by Wayne Ford
A former clerk in the Oglethorpe County Probate Court was given a probationary sentence recently on charges that involved the theft of more than $18,000 from the office in Lexington.
Angel Renee Bramlett, 44, of Winterville entered a guilty plea on June 1 in Oglethorpe County Superior Court to a 64-count indictment that alleged she stole the money while working as a clerk in the court. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported she was going into the computer and changing cash money paid for fines to show “zero dollars.”
Bramlett was indicted on 64 counts that included numerous charges of computer forgery, computer trespassing and felony theft. She was arrested in November 2021.
In a negotiated plea between her defense lawyer and the Northern Circuit District Attorney’s Office, Bramlett received 10 years on probation each on two counts that are set to run consecutive for 20 years. Probationary sentences on the remaining counts would run concurrent with those years.
In addition, she “immediately” paid $18,240 in restitution. A $10,000 fine was also imposed.
The negotiated plea also allowed her a first-offender sentence, which if she completes her probation, she can have her conviction removed from her record.
The first-offender condition gave Superior Court Judge Chris Phelps some concern due to the fact that Bramlett was stealing public money and violated the public trust of her office, according to the order.
However, Phelps relented and gave her a first offender sentence due to this being her first arrest, the fact she paid back the money, and that under the plea agreement with the state her sentence was fully probated.
The sentence also requires that the first year of probation is spent in “home confinement,” meaning she can leave her home for such matters as medical and grocery trips and to attend church, according to the document.
The theft was uncovered in 2021 and reported to the Oglethorpe County Sheriff’s Office, which asked for the assistance of the GBI. The GBI reported that it found theft of money had occurred from August 2019 to October 2021 and involved thousands of dollars.
The plea agreement was to structure the sentence in a way she could reimburse the state in full for the theft, Northern District Attorney Parks White said Wednesday.
“She has home confinement, but to put her in jail would cost about as much as she stole,” he said, adding the sentence was also structured to hold her accountable and place a significant hold on her liberty by imposing the house arrest.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Winterville woman sentenced in theft from Oglethorpe Probate Court
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Winterville woman sentenced in theft of about $18,000 from Oglethorpe court
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