Proposed Butler plea agreement provides for restitution, does not include jail time
UPDATED: 12:21 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014
The guilty plea agreement presented for Amy C. Butler, the former Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office detective’s assistant fired from her position in June for embezzlement, allows four years to pay back the money taken, and it does not include jail time.
The plea agreement still must be approved by 19th Judicial District Judge James B. Wheelis, who can either approve or reject it and impose his own sentence. Sentencing is set for 9:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 24.
Butler, 37, who was represented by attorney Ann German, entered the plea Monday in Wheelis’ courtroom. Butler is represented by Libby Attorney Ann German. Because of Butler’s prior employment with the Sheriff’s Office, Montana Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Varns is prosecuting the case, and his office approved the plea presented to Wheelis.
Terms of the deal demand Butler make restitution for $12,382, the amount missing from the agency’s 24/7 Sobriety Testing program, of which Butler was administrator. Butler oversaw the program from April 1, 2012, to June 5, 2013, at which time she was relieved of those duties.
According to the plea agreement documents obtained Wednesday, Butler must maintain behavioral conditions that will be reviewed by Wheelis at the time of sentencing.
Furthermore, the agreement states that in her exchange for a guilty plea she will waive her right to a hearing and agrees to pay the full amount of restitution claimed by the the Sheriff’s Office. It also states she will not be required to pay a fine, provide community service or to serve an incarceration sentence.
A subsequent audit of the newly formed program found accounts, after Butler had been removed as its administrator, was found to “be 100 percent,” Varns wrote in an affidavit in the case.
Butler could face between a year or as many as 10 years in prison, according to the sentencing guidelines.
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First report:
Headline: Butler pleads guilty
Amy C. Butler, the former Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office detective’s assistant who was fired from her position in June after being charged with embezzling pleaded guilty Monday.
Butler, 37, who was represented by attorney Ann German, entered the plea as an agreement was presented to the court.
Coming before 19th Judicial District Judge James B. Wheelis, Butler answered concisely when Wheelis asked whether she was influenced by any intoxicating substances and whether she understood the charges against her.
“Yes,” Butler replied to as to the comprehension.
Because of the sensitivity of the case, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office turned over the investigation over to Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Varns, who listened to the proceedings Monday via telephone link.
Wheelis made it clear he has yet to decide whether to accept the plea agreement.
“I’m not bound by this plea agreement,” Wheelis said, indicating he may accept the recommended sentence or impose a sentence of his own.
Terms of the plea agreement were not readily available at deadline, as Wheelis still has the case file.
While working for the Sheriff’s Office, Butler was administrator for the agency’s 24/7 Sobriety Testing program. The program requires arrestees, after being ordered by a judge, to provide breath samples twice daily to be tested for the presence of alcohol. The participants pay $2 per test, and it was Butler’s duty to account for the money.
In May, a discrepancy in the amount of money in the fund led to an investigation, and determined more than $11,000 was missing.
An internal investigation ensued, and it was determined by Sheriff Roby Bowe and Undersheriff Brent Faulkner that money had not been properly deposited with the Lincoln County Treasurer’s Office.
According to Varns’ investigation, $11,039 was missing.
A subsequent audit of the newly formed program found accounts, after Butler had been removed as its administrator, to “be 100 percent,” Varns wrote in an affidavit in the case.
Butler could face between a year or as many as 10 years in prison, according to Monday’s proceedings.
Sentencing is set for 9:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 24.