Ex-Lincoln County worker charged with theft

LIBBY — A former Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office detective’s assistant has been charged with felony embezzlement.

Amy C. Butler, 37, is accused of stealing as much as $11,000 from the 24/7 Sobriety Testing program.

Butler, who had worked for the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office for 10 years, was fired in June as administrator of the program.

Last week, Kenneth Varns, an assistant in the Montana Attorney General’s Office who has been assigned as the special deputy Lincoln County attorney, released an affidavit indicating sufficient evidence to charge Butler with felony embezzlement.

The 24/7 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, an internal investigation determined more than $11,000 was missing and the case was turned over to the state Attorney General’s Office.

Until her dismissal, Butler monitored the alcohol-testing program that is supported by an Internet software program entitled IntoxiTrack operated by Intoximeter Inc.

Butler monitored payments on a computer program and placed payments received into a lock box. She also was responsible for depositing the money into an account at the Lincoln County Treasurer’s Office.

Intoximeter charges $1 per test. The other dollar is used by the Sheriff’s Office, in part, to cover its cost of administering the program. Each month, Intoximeter sends an invoice that details how many tests were given and the amount the Sheriff’s Office owes for those tests.

In May, Undersheriff Brent Faulkner noticed the revenue expected from the program was unexpectedly low.

Intoximeter had billed the Sheriff’s Office more than $7,000 for fiscal year 2012-13. This meant there should have been more than $14,000 — generated from more than 7,000 tests — deposited in the Sheriff’s Office account at the county Treasurer’s Office.

The actual deposits only totaled $4,437.

During the life of the program, Intoximeter billed the Sheriff’s Office $11,548 for breath samples. The number of tests should have generated $23,096 in gross revenue but since the beginning of the program, Butler had deposited only $9,781.

The city of Eureka also runs a 24/7 sobriety program. Money from Eureka’s program (approximately $1,057) had yet to be received at the time of the investigation.

Of the $13,314 expected — minus the $1,057 that had yet to be received from Eureka — there was $12,258 unaccounted for, Varns’ affidavit states.

Faulkner told Butler about the discrepancy, thinking at the time that Intoximeter had overbilled the Sheriff’s Office.

According to Varns’ affidavit, “Butler looked physically ill when she was told about the large discrepancy. Butler failed to respond to Faulkner’s request that she try to determine what happened.”

Faulkner’s investigation concluded that the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office had lost $11,039 in revenue.

Continued investigation by Sheriff Roby Bowe revealed that Butler had been gambling at local casinos. In one establishment, Varns’ affidavit states, Butler had written checks for $8,800 since April 2012.  

On June 5, Bowe asked Butler about her gambling. Varns’ affidavit states Butler indicated she “might have spent between $200 and $300 gambling during the time frame in question. Bowe advised her that he knew better, based upon his investigation.”

Butler later admitted she began taking money from the program in “about July 2012.”

Varns’ affidavit states Butler said she began stealing money when a check from the father of her child for child support bounced.

Butler said she took about $200 at a time and believed she had taken a total of $5,000, although she did not keep track of how much money she was taking.

After the June 11 interview, Butler was fired.

Butler faces a Jan. 13 arraignment.

Gerstenecker is the editor of the Western News in Libby.