(Spirit Lake)– A restitution hearing was held Friday in Dickinson County District Court for a Spirit Lake woman charged for misappropriating funds from the former “Before and After School Services”, or BASS program.
Margaret “Meg” Waltz entered an Alford plea previously to a charge of theft in the first degree.
The judge handling the case will take testimony from the hearing under advisement and will decide how much restitution Waltz should pay. That will be announced at an upcoming sentencing hearing, which as of Friday morning had yet to be scheduled.
The prosecution puts the amount at about 400-thousand dollars; the defense says it’s much less–more like about 10-thousand.
Annette Campbell of the State Auditor’s Office, which conducted an audit of the BASS program’s finances as part of an investigation by the Spirit Lake Police Department, testified at Friday’s hearing. She says most of the money was spent on trips, a new vehicle and jewelry, as well as payments to family members.
Campbell says most of the funds that were misused came through grants for the BASS program that were awarded by the Iowa Department of Human Services.
