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KING DENIED LESSER BOND IN THEFT CASE

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, May 15, 2008 9:57 AM CDT

A request to reduce the bond set for a Pine Bluff School District employee charged with the theft of almost $900,000 from local and federal funds was denied Monday afternoon by a Jefferson County Circuit Judge.

Lynda King, 39, of 813 W. 24th Ave. has been held at the county detention center on a $100,000 cash-only bond since she surrendered to police May 7.

Her attorneys from the Robinson Law Firm asked Judge Berlin Jones to reduce that bond, or in the alternative, change the cash-only requirement to a secured or unsecured bond, or a combination thereof.

In their motion to reduce the bond, the attorneys contended King has close ties to the community, no previous criminal record, and was not a flight risk.

Deputy Prosecutor Rik Ramsey said the state opposed the bond reduction, noting a number of factors, including those listed by the defense, go into setting bonds in criminal cases.

Ramsey said other factors included residence in the community, employment and financial status, and past responses to legal proceedings.

“Also considered is the nature of the offenses, the probability of conviction, and the likely sentence a person could receive if convicted,” Ramsey said. “In this case, from the information the state has been given, the probability of conviction is great and if convicted, Ms. King could be subject to receiving significant prison time.”

Ramsey noted King has been charged with 1,152 separate counts, and if she were convicted of all of those and received the maximum sentence on each, would face “over 10,000 years in prison.”

“If the state were to go forward with just a handful of the charges and she is convicted, she could potentially serve a life sentence,” he said, explaining that the seriousness of those charges and the potential sentence created “a serious possibility that if she were to get out of jail, the risk of her not appearing would be great.”

On May 7, Prosecuting Attorney Steve Dalrymple charged King with 576 counts of second-degree forgery, Class C felonies; 25 counts of theft of property for theft of $500 or less, Class A misdemeanors; 49 counts of theft of property for amounts of $2,500 or more, Class B felonies; and 502 counts of theft of property, $500.01 to $2,500, Class C felonies.

The charges stemmed from an investigation by police, legislative auditors and agents from the U.S. Department of Education after school district officials contacted Dalrymple on April 7 and reported alleged improprieties.

Police said King would make counterfeit invoices on a vendor named “MTC,” a company that had provided legitimate services to the school district in the past, then deposit the checks into a bank account she opened under the name “MTC Inc.,” then electronically transfer the funds into another account under the name “Personal Touch,” so that she could access the funds.

King was suspended from her job with the school district April 4 and recommended for termination by Superintendent Frank Anthony. That termination is expected to occur when the school board meets Tuesday at the school administration building.

Dalrymple has said the investigation into the missing funds is continuing, and federal authorities are working with state and local officials try to trace the missing funds.

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