LUVERNE, Ala. (WDNews) — A Brantley woman has been sentenced after pleading guilty to stealing nearly $190,000 from the Crenshaw County Sheriff’s Office while serving as the agency’s office administrator.
According to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Jennifer Knighten, 54, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one felony count of use of office for personal gain after investigators determined she stole $189,596.65 from the sheriff’s office.
Officials said Knighten carried out the theft through multiple methods, including creating false timesheets and issuing corresponding payroll checks to herself, paying personal credit card bills using sheriff’s office funds, creating payments to fictitious vendors and keeping the money, and stealing inmate work release funds.
Knighten was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The sentence was split, requiring her to serve two years in custody followed by five years of supervised probation.
Under Alabama law, the intentional use of a public office for personal gain is a Class B felony.
The case was prosecuted by the Alabama Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Division, including Assistant Attorney General John Pace. Marshall thanked the Alabama Department of Public Accounts and the Crenshaw County Sheriff’s Office for assisting with the investigation.
