Janet Warford-Perry
PINEVILLE, Mo.--The wife of a Delaware County Commissioner was ordered on Monday to return to court for a preliminary hearing on allegations she stole over $60,000 from her employer.
A felony charge of stealing was originally filed Aug. 1 against Michelle Crowder, 40, Grove, wife of Commissioner Kenny Crowder.
On July 17, Larry Huston, assistant police chief, reported he’d met with Peter Yourseff, owner of Roper Propane Gas Company in Southwest, City, Mo., who wanted to report Michelle Crowder’s alleged embezzlement of company funds in the amount of $62,632, according to the probable cause affidavit filed with the court clerk.
Yourseff recalled that after an audit, it appeared the bookkeeper had been inflating the accounts receivable to make it appear the missing money was still due from customers who’d already paid their bills. He confronted Michelle Crowder and she admitted taking the money for her personal use.
Yourseff said he asked Michelle Crowder if she would talk to her husband and see if he would make up the difference “like he did two years ago for between $30,000 and $40,000 that she embezzled.”
But instead of paying the full amount allegedly stolen, Kenny Crowder tried to bargain the repayment amount down to $35,000 if Yourseff would “keep it quiet” like he’d done during the previous theft.
Yourseff reportedly refused to haggle on the price and turned the matter over to the McDonald County prosecutor’s office.
Michelle Crowder pled not guilty to the charge and is slated to return for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 12.
She remains free on a $100,000 bond posted in the case.
In a totally separate matter, District Attorney Gene Haynes said Friday that he is awaiting toxicology reports to complete an investigation on a fatality accident in which Kenny Crowder was involved.
On Aug. 24, at around 5:40 a.m., on State Highway 10 north of Grove, Kenny Crowder pulled out from a county road into the path of a motorcycle driven by 50-year-old James Levi Black, of Jay. Black was pronounced dead on arrival at Freeman Health Care Systems in Joplin, Mo., according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol report.
Delaware County District Attorney Eddie Wyant recused himself from the case, thus it was subsequently assigned to Haynes for investigation.
