By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

NEOSHO, Mo. — A former employee will pay back part of the money she stole from the Seneca Special Road District, according to a plea deal approved Monday in Newton County Circuit Court.

Crystal R. Chew, formerly Crystal R. Whitlock, 31, of Seneca, was charged in October with a felony of stealing about $12,450 from the road district.

Chew will have to make $6,500 in restitution to either the road district or the bonding company, whichever absorbed the loss, said Newton County Prosecutor Jacob Skouby. She also will be on probation for five years.

Chew was accused of using the road district’s credit card to make more than $8,040 worth of personal purchases, according to court documents. Authorities also allege that Chew amassed $1,755 in charges on the district’s wireless Internet access card for personal use, including charges accumulated after she no longer was employed with the district. She also is accused of receiving more than $2,654 in wages for which she was ineligible, according to the affidavit.

Chew’s employment with the road district spanned May 4, 2006, through July 26, 2007, according to court documents.

Asked about the difference between the amount Chew was accused of stealing and her restitution, Skouby said Chew had accumulated more than $12,000 in “suspicious” transactions but that it was “a matter of what you can prove.”

He also noted that the restitution does not preclude Chew’s bonding company from collecting from her if it wishes.

Chew was the second person charged last year in connection with embezzlement schemes involving the road district.

Jordan A. Wilson, 25, of rural Neosho, pleaded guilty earlier this year to Class C felony theft. He was a commissioner with the district until he resigned last year.

Wilson was accused of establishing a fake company called A.W. Gravel and then submitting invoices to the road district for work or products that the company was to have furnished. Wilson then wrote three checks totaling $14,830 to A.W. Gravel between August 2006 and February 2007, according to court documents.

Wilson paid back the money after he was confronted by other road district commissioners.