Attorney General Jon Bruning

News Release

                        FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                    Contact: Holley Hatt

                        October 16, 2007 4:30pm CDT                                                 402.471.2067

Former County Treasurer Ordered to

Pay $31,200 to Phelps County

(Lincoln, NE) Attorney General Jon Bruning today announced that former Deputy Phelps County Treasurer Mary Hammond, 66, was sentenced to five years of probation and 150 hours of community service for one count of theft by unlawful taking. As a condition of her probation, she was ordered to pay $31,200 in restitution to the county. The sentencing occurred today in Phelps County District Court.

“Ms. Hammond violated the trust of Phelps County taxpayers,” Bruning said. “She let her community down, and now she’s facing the consequences.”

According to internal county and Nebraska State Patrol investigations, Hammond stole $31,200 in county funds between January 1 and May 7, 2007, by keeping a portion of the county’s bank deposits which she was responsible for delivering to the bank. She then made false accounting ledger entries to cover her embezzlement.

Hammond was terminated from her position in the Phelps County Treasurer’s office on May 7. Under Nebraska law, when over $1,500 is stolen, theft by unlawful taking is a class III felony.

Criminal Bureau Chief John Freudenberg and Assistant Attorney General Jeff Gaertig handled the case.

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