APALACHICOLA — A former Franklin County probation officer has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison.
Jennifer Martina Brown, 33, was sentenced Wednesday to just over 23 months in prison and must repay $218,736 in restitution for one first-degree felony count of grand theft of over $100,000, and for two third-degree felonies, for official misconduct and tampering with physical evidence, with the three sentences to run concurrently. Upon her release, she’ll face 20 years probation.
Defense attorney Gordon Shuler had pleaded for her release to allow Brown to work and pay restitution for the theft, as well as care for her two young children. State Attorney Willie Meggs asked for a five-year-sentence, followed by 10 years of probation, as well as restitution.
“Jennifer Brown has demonstrated, for lack of a better word, pure evil,” Meggs said. “She took money from people who were struggling for an extravagant lifestyle and misled the court. It is evil incarnate.”
Family members, who included Brown’s mother, Glenda Martina, who oversees the felony division at the courthouse, testified they would provide funds for an initial restitution payment, but Senior Circuit Judge William L. Gary said he could find no reason to reduce the sentence.
Brown’s aunt, Marcia Johnson, now in her third term as clerk of courts, uncovered the theft in August 2013, while preparing a legislative report on the assessment and collection of court fines and costs. It became clear to her Brown had pocketed fines and fees, and then masked her crime to both the courts and her employer by reporting probationers had performed community service hours, which can be credited against an account at $10 per hour.
Johnson notified Richard Stewart, owner of Florida Probation Services LLC, the private firm under contract with the county to administer county probation services. Stewart fired Brown in August 2013.
Forensic accountant Mary Hall, a financial investigator with the state’s Office of Fiscal Integrity, testified she documented misconduct in 398 of the about 1,800 case files relating to Brown. Hall said based on her review of deposits to checking accounts to which Brown had access, she stole on average $6,000 to $8,000 monthly during her employment as probation officer. Hall testified Brown used her own system of handwritten receipts as an alternative to the probation company’s computer-generated ones.
After payment was made, Brown noted the date of the probationer’s next appointment on the yellow copy and, in the upper right-hand corner, noted the amount of money received and the amount credited. Then she subtracted money credited from money received and noted the difference, which was the amount stolen from that probationer’s fees on that day.
Hall said Brown recorded thefts as small as $4, and signed each of the receipts, which had to be painstakingly reconstructed after Brown shredded the receipt book upon her firing. Hall said an investigation into Brown’s finances showed she “did a lot of shopping and took cruises, but she was also deeply in debt.”
The accountant said she estimated the minimum restitution for documented theft at $218,736.91.
“There is obviously and clearly more based on her spending habits,” Hall said.
Hall said she found instances where Brown pressured probationers, citing the case of Joey Barnell, a non-Florida resident who received a DUI in Franklin County in 2013. Brown faxed him and told him he would be jailed in Florida if he did not pay her $2,000. Hall said there was no such stipulation in Barnell’s court notes.
Hall said she questioned 150 probationers who Brown said performed community service to pay for part of their fine or court fees. Shuler asked how many had denied performing community service. “All of them,” Hall replied.
Testifying under a subpoena, County Judge Van Russell told the court he tries to keep fines consistent for similar offenses, because in a small community, people talk to each other and compare.
“If somebody’s struggling financially, I’ll stretch like a rubber band for the time,” he said.
Meggs’ final witness, Billy Jim Rogers, field operations manager for Florida Probation Services, testified Brown turned over $93,000 to the clerk’s office during the 18 months she worked for his firm. He said that over the 18 months since he replaced Brown, he has provided the clerk with checks totaling $258,000.
He said a probation officer cannot violate a probationer for non-payment of funds.
“Basically, if they can’t pay, the probation time burns up,” Rogers said. “Then they go before the judge and he puts them on a new probation.”
Among the four probationers who testified they never performed community service hours was Jessica Lynn Chandler, who said she was twice charged with driving with a suspended license. Meggs said her record reflected she had performed 77 hours of community service, which Chandler denied.
“I told Miss Brown I was waiting on child support,” she said. “I was always threatened if I wasn’t there by a certain time [to pay my fees] I would be violated.
“I have two kids. I can’t be in the county jail,” Chandler said.
Edward Prince, who was on probation under Brown’s supervision in 2009 and 2011, said he receives $750 in disability monthly because he is blind in one eye. Meggs told him records reflected he performed 35 hours of community service in 2011, and 15 hours in 2009, but Prince denied performing community service.
Prince said that at the beginning of his 2011 probation, he was not yet receiving disability, and he and his partner were living on a $400 monthly child support payment.
“I got laid off around 2011. I told (Brown) I lost my job because of my eye, but that didn’t seem to bother Miss Brown,” he said. “She said she would have a warrant cut if I didn’t pay my fees. My lights got cut off several times because I couldn’t” pay both court fees and the electric bill.
Several witnesses urged leniency for Brown.
“When I heard I was in utter disbelief,” said Monica Lemieux, Brown’s aunt. “My own sister (Johnson) turned in her niece, which speaks volumes about (Johnson’s) integrity and honesty. I’ve said and done things I wish I could take back. I am a firm believer in second chances.
“My family has offered to take substantial amounts from their savings,” Lemieux said. “Incarceration is only a moral victory. There are two little boys who are ultimately innocent who will be deprived of having a mother’s love and nurturing that all children deserve.
“She has acknowledged the deeds and wants to repay the money,” she said.
“Are you aware that, in February, she took a cruise to Mexico or somewhere?” the prosecutor asked.
Lemieux hesitated and responded that she had not been in close contact with Brown recently.
When Shuler called Brown to the stand, she spoke rapidly in a low voice, punctuated by sobs.
“I know an apology will never be enough to make this better. My actions have had a profound effect on my family that I could never have imagined,” she said.
“I worked on a daily basis [with probationers] and treated them according to policy. I never had a complaint that I was evil. Nobody was ever violated unless their probation was over. I have helped probationers with numerous problems,” Brown said.
“I was blinded and trying to save a failing marriage. I would take it back if I could,” she continued. “Let me work hard at a job I am good at. Don’t take away the good things I have done. I have worked countless hours as a community volunteer.”