Additional arrest made in Garden City theft

Published 1:23 pm Friday, November 19, 2021

More details were released at a press conference Thursday about the arrests of two Garden City employees who are accused of stealing more than $200,000 from the town — including an additional arrest.

Former Garden City town clerk Shannon James, and her sister, former utility clerk Leslie Johnson were arrested earlier this week on felony theft charges. James is being held on a $120,000 cash bond and Johnson is being held on a $90,000 cash bond.

Cullman County District Attorney Wilson Blaylock announced Thursday that Jeremy James, Shannon James’ husband, had also been arrested earlier that morning.

Another warrant has also been issued for a fourth person involved in the case who is not an employee of the town, but an arrest had not been made at the time of the press conference, he said.

Blaylock said the town became aware of missing funds in August, and contacted the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s office. After that, the Alabama Ethics Commission’s Chris McKay and sheriff’s office Investigator Dustin Bentley spent the last few months investigating the theft.

Over the course of their investigation, McKay and Bentley discovered that the pair allegedly stole $207,000 from the town through fraudulent or forged checks, misuse of credit cards and fraudulent time sheets, he said.

“It’s been an arduous task, but both the ethics commission and the sheriff’s office have done a great job and we very much appreciate that,” he said.

Blaylock said Shannon James has been charged with two felony ethics crimes: Use of office for personal gain in the amount of $187,000 and the use of public property for personal benefit in the amount of $6,900. She also faces property crimes charges of aggravated theft by deception.

Leslie Johnson also faces ethics charges of use of office for personal gain in the amount of around $5,900, as well as use of public property for personal benefit in the amount of $3,800. She also faces aggravated theft charges and charges of possession of a forged instrument.

Jeremy James faces aggravated theft charges for receiving benefit from the theft with the couple’s joint checking account, Blaylock said.

Because more than $100,000 was stolen, the charges were upgraded to aggravated theft, which means prison time is a potential punishment, he said.

“We’ll be asking for jail time just because of the amount of money that was stolen,” he said.

Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry also thanked Bentley and McKay for their work in the investigation, and said the sheriff’s office, ethics commission and DA’s office all worked together to track the stolen money and bring charges.

“I want to thank all of the parties involved and their due diligence and hard work,” he said.

Garden City town attorney Heath Meherg, who was retained by the town in September, also thanked everyone involved in the case on behalf of Mayor Tim Eskew and the members of the Garden City Town Council.

“They’ve all worked very diligently on this case and they’ve pushed hard to get us where we’re at,” he said. “We look forward to possibly getting some restitution in this matter and moving forward and getting this closed out for the town.”