Guilty as charged
Former county department head pleads guilty
Staff writer
Theresa Huffman, former county economic development director, pleaded guilty Wednesday to misuse of $46,870.89 in public funds.
She is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 20.
County attorney Courtney Boehm said no plea deal was made in the case.
The charge is a level 7 felony. If convicted, state sentencing guidelines would suggest a sentence ranging from 24 months probation to 30 months in prison, depending on any previous convictions Huffman may have.
Huffman’s lawyer, John Stang of Wichita, said at her preliminary hearing that Huffman would deposit $46,870.89 with the district court clerk for possible use as restitution in the case. Court clerk Jan Helmer confirmed the money was deposited, but declined to specify the date, saying the information is not a public record.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed with the charges, Huffman drained the assets of two inactive charitable groups she’d overseen and deposited the money into a third account a year and three months before her retirement.
A year after her retirement, she allegedly moved that money into her personal bank account and used part of it to buy herself a mobile home at the county park and lake and a camper.