Former Owen County auditor facing theft charges
OWEN COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — The former auditor of a southwestern Indiana county was indicted Friday on federal theft charges after prosecutors say she used government accounts to buy over $300,000 in merchandise from Wal-Mart.
Angela Lawson, 56, who was the auditor of Owen County between 2005 and 2012 and remained with the office through August 2014, was arrested at her Gosport home earlier in the day, federal prosecutors announced in a news release.
Acting U.S. attorney Josh J. Minkler said Lawson had access to multiple credit cards and used them to make unauthorized purchases of items ranging from alcohol, to jewelry, and even vacations.
According to the probable cause affidavit, obtained Friday afternoon by 24-Hour News 8, the former auditor used as many as five different credit card accounts to purchase items. The purchases began sometime in 2009, according to the document..
“The public deserves elected officials whom they can trust to be fiscally responsible and to do the right thing,” Minkler said.
Lawson faces up to 50 years in prison if found guilty on all five theft counts.
24-Hour News 8 will follow this story, and any updates can be found on WISHTV.com