By Jeff Lehr

jlehr@joplinglobe.com

NEOSHO, Mo. — A former commissioner for the Seneca Special Road District was assessed a suspended sentence Monday on a conviction of stealing more than $14,000 in district funds.

Jordan A. Wilson, 25, of rural Neosho, pleaded guilty earlier this year in Newton County Circuit Court to a charge of felony theft. Circuit Judge Tim Perigo sentenced Wilson at a hearing Monday to five years in prison, but suspended execution of the sentence and placed him on probation for five years.

Wilson was a commissioner for the Seneca district until his resignation last year when the theft was discovered.

Court records state that he set up a fake company called A.W. Gravel, and submitted invoices to the district for work and products that the fake company supposedly provided. An investigation determined that he wrote three checks to the company, totaling $14,830, between August 2006 and February 2007.

Wilson paid the money back to the road district after the deceit was uncovered by other road district commissioners.

An employee of the road district, Crystal R. Chew, 31, of Seneca, was convicted earlier this month of stealing $12,450 from the road district by using the district’s credit card to make personal purchases. Chew reached a plea agreement with the Newton County prosecutor’s office that requires five years on probation and restitution of a portion of the stolen funds.