Associated Press
IOWA — A former parole and probation officer charged with taking money from offenders told officials he never intended to permanently deprive them of their money.
Lance Summers, 36, of Burlington, worked in eastern and central Iowa judicial districts between 2002 and 2006. He faces charges in Dallas County and Lee County.
The state auditor said Monday that Summers appears to have deposited money he collected from offenders into his own bank accounts instead of turning them in to the state.
Auditor David Vaudt’s special report said Lance Summers, who worked for the Department of Corrections, failed to deposit at least $4,194. The report said auditors found at least $3,860 deposited from unidentified sources into his personal bank account.
Summers, 36, of Burlington resigned in August 2006 after an investigation started into alleged missing deposits. He had been on paid suspension for about three months.
Summers was arrested in early February and charged in Dallas County with felonious misconduct in office. In Lee County, he was charged with second-degree theft, also a felony.
Summers had worked in both the Fifth Judicial District in central Iowa and in the Eighth Judicial District in southeast Iowa.
Each charge is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $7,500.
Court records indicate Summers has agreed to plead guilty to second-degree theft in Lee County, where sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday in Keokuk.
Prosecutors in the Iowa attorney general’s office are handling the Lee County case, said Bob Brammer, a spokesman in the office.
Dallas County Attorney Wayne Reisetter said Summers is expected to enter a guilty plea to the Dallas County charge on Tuesday in Lee County. His sentence will be set later, Reisetter said.
Summers’ attorney, Michael Clark, of Burlington did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Summers denied he intentionally took the money in interviews with Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agents and in his resignation letter submitted Aug. 4, 2006.
He offered to give up his vacation pay worth as much as $10,000 and his 1,000 hours of accumulated sick time. Summers said he would consider handing over his IPERS retirement worth about $30,000.
“The only thing I didn’t want is to be charged with some type of theft or crime because I never had any intent on permanently depriving the owners of their money,” he wrote.