TONTITOWN — A former Tontitown city official who resigned last week pleaded guilty to felony charges Tuesday morning, Prosecutor Matt Durrett said in an email.
Alicia Collins, 33, of 18700 Bill John Road in Siloam Springs, pleaded guilty to charges of theft of property where the value is more than $25,000 and theft of services where the value is less than $5,000 but more than $1,000, court records show.
Collins was sentenced to 20 years, with 18 years suspended, to be served at a regional punishment facility, according to court documents. She also was ordered to pay $58,000.
Collins was booked Tuesday into the Washington County Detention Center but was released with no bond around the same time, jail records show.
She is scheduled to turn herself in and begin serving her sentence Sept. 22, officials said Tuesday.
Collins was appointed to her position as recorder-treasurer in 2013 and paid $600 a month, city officials said previously. She also served as the bookkeeper for the city and earned $41,742 a year with taxes and benefits.
Collins was arrested in February after an investigation revealed thousands of dollars worth of missing money.
The state Legislative Joint Auditing Committee found missing Water and Sewer Department money for the city in 2014 and 2015, according to the arrest warrant affidavit in February. An investigation showed more than $25,000 was missing between Jan. 1, 2013, and Wednesday, according to the affidavit.
A state legislative report released in April revealed $56,963 of cash received and recorded in the city’s daily water and sewer books and computer software program was not deposited at the bank.
Collins was in charge of the cash at the end of each day, according to the report.
Collins also credited her own water and sewer service bill without the city receiving payment on the account, according to the affidavit. Nonpayment on those services amounted to $1,387 between Jan. 1, 2013 and February this year, according to the state report.
Collins was fired by the city shortly after her arrest. She resigned her public position Aug. 31 with a note that said she had moved out of town. Collins left Tontitown without paying about $150 for her last water and sewer bill, city records show.
The Tontitown City Council approved her resignation Sept. 1.
Since Collins’ arrest, the city has stopped accepting cash payments, Mayor Paul Colvin said Tuesday. The city also instituted several other checks and balances to safeguard funds, including having multiple people sign off on balancing the revenue and deposits, he said.