Columbus woman to stand trial for theft

COLUMBUS -- A 39-year-old Columbus woman accused of stealing thousands of dollars while working as an office manager of a city medical clinic has been bound over for trial in Platte County District Court.

Platte County Court Judge Frank Skorupa bound over Amy Newman to district court on 13 felony charges in connection with the theft of more than $50,000 following a brief hearing Wednesday afternoon.

Skorupa scheduled Newman for arraignment in district court at 10 a.m. March 13. Newman waived her right to a preliminary hearing in county court at Wednesday’s hearing.

The judge also reduced the defendant’s bond from 10 percent of $25,000 to 10 percent of $10,000 following a request by defense attorney John Kohl of Omaha.

Newman, who appeared for Wednesday’s hearing in an orange jail jumpsuit and leg shackles, has been in custody since her arrest about two weeks ago.

Prior to the county court hearing, District Judge Robert Steinke named C. Jo Peterson, of Beaver Crossing, as a special prosecutor in the case. The judge said Peterson was named because Newman is the daughter-in-law of Platte County Treasurer Marietta Newman.

The Platte County Attorney’s Office, which would normally handle the prosecution, acts as the legal counsel for elected county officials.

Newman is charged with 12 counts of forgery and one count of theft by deception, a mixture of Class III and Class IV felonies.

Nine of the charges are Class III felonies, punishable by a maximum of 20 years imprisonment, $25,000 fine or both and a minimum of one year imprisonment.

The other four charges are Class IV felonies, punishable by a maximum of five years imprisonment, $10,000 fine or both and no minimum sentence.

Newman is accused of stealing thousands of dollars while working as an office manager at Columbus Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Clinic, 4508 38th St., Suite 133, using credit cards and forged checks.

The police investigation began Jan. 12 when Dr. Richard Cimpl reported a theft to authorities, according to an arrest affidavit filed by Investigator Bret Strecker.

The orthopedic surgeon told authorities his office had discovered the thefts after confronting Newman about putting 20 unaccounted for hours on her weekly work timesheet.

“She became irate with them, and left the meeting,’’ Strecker said in his affidavit. “She went to her office and shut the door for some time. Newman then left the office, damaging their time card machine before she left.’’

After office personnel had done a thorough search of clinic records, the investigator said, they discovered Newman had stolen from the office in “many different ways.’’

The defendant is accused of taking a Menards credit card out in the name of the business without authorization and purchasing items with a value of more than $2,200.

Credit card payments were made with checks from the clinic signed by Cimpl, Strecker said in his affidavit.

Newman also is accused of making more than $17,000 in payments for a Discover credit card not authorized by the clinic.

The defendant also is accused of forging 12 checks to two different companies totaling more than $29,000, falsifying timesheets resulting in overpayments of $4,700 and writing fraudulent petty cash checks totaling $600.