Reita Cole Kelly of Chanute pleaded guilty Thursday morning to two counts of forgery involving the Flint Hills Senior Life Fair.
She had been charged with six counts of forgery in Lyon County District Court in connection with taking money from several Life Fair deposits. She was treasurer of the multicounty organization. She had waived her right to a preliminary hearing earlier this month.
Kelly, 47, appeared Thursday with her attorney, Monte Miller, before Chief Judge Merlin G. Wheeler. Assistant Lyon County Attorney Tim Dupree represented the prosecution.
Wheeler accepted Kelly’s guilty plea and set sentencing for 11:30 a.m. Oct. 19 before Judge W. Lee Fowler. Fowler had been assigned earlier to the case, but was unavailable because of a jury trial currently underway.
According to court records, Kelly was accused of writing about 25 unauthorized checks to herself on the Life Fair account and taking several deposits intended for the event.
Life Fair officials told law enforcement officers that the loss amounted to more than $12,000, according to an affidavit filed in the case. The six forgery charges include $4,400 in losses.
Vicki L. Brooks, a board member of Life Fair, reported the discrepancies after she was notified by Emporia State Bank that the Life Fair account had insufficient funds to cover a check.
“(U)pon examining the account, she learned there were several unauthorized checks which her signature had been forged as a maker’s signature,” according to the affidavit. “Further investigation revealed that a second signature of Kenneth D. Hanson ... had also been forged on numerous checks.”
Brooks and Hanson reported that Kelly was never authorized to write checks listing herself as a payee and that their signatures had been forged. Brooks and Hanson were authorized to sign checks.
Brooks also reported that Reita Kelly deposited a personal check for $2,000 from Kelly’s personal account into the Life Fair account.
Wheeler received Kelly’s Tender of Plea of Guilty today. According to the plea agreement, Kelly will plead guilty and pay restitution on all counts for the losses sustained by Life Fair. The remaining four counts of forgery will be dismissed with prejudice and cannot be refiled.
“If additional information comes up that is not in this affidavit, additional charges can be filed,” Dupree said.
Kelly formerly worked for the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services and, when charged, was employed in another branch of state government.
Wheeler talked extensively with Kelly about the significance of her plea, to ensure she had a thorough understanding of what would happen as a result of her signing the plea agreement.
“You are telling me that you committed the acts that are described in those two counts,” Wheeler said.
He directed her to a section of the agreement regarding Constitutional rights, including the right to a trial.
“No one can force you or intimidate you to make you give up these rights,” the judge said. “Those rights will not be restored to you in this case.”
He said that, under some circumstances, she may have the right to an appeal.
Wheeler asked her if she had been promised anything that he was not aware of in exchange for the plea; she responded she had not.
The judge told Kelly that forgery is a nonperson felony, severity level 8, which carries with it certain ranges for sentencing, with nine options, depending upon historical qualifications after a background check.
“The only thing I can tell you with 100 percent accuracy is the maximum,” Wheeler said.
The maximum sentence would be 23 months in prison on the first count and nine months in prison on the second.
“You’re looking here at a potential incarceration of up to 32 months,” he said. “... You have no guarantee you’re going to receive probation in this case.”
The maximum total fine for both counts could be $200,000.
Seven of the nine criminal history guidelines have a presumption of probation, Wheeler said. The decision on sentencing will be made after Kelly has gone to Court Services for a complete background check and to the Lyon County Sheriff’s office for fingerprinting and photographing.
Kelly surrendered on a warrant and did not go through the usual arrest process.