Former animal shelter president gets four years for forgery

A former Knox-Whitley Animal Shelter president and her husband stopped just short of admitting they falsified shelter records in order to fraudulently obtain unemployment benefits, but they agreed prosecutors had enough evidence to convict them of them crime at trial.

Debra Callahan-Wright and her husband Franklin "Frank" Wright had been scheduled to stand trial Tuesday morning, but instead entered Alford pleas.

Debra Wright entered an Alford plea to second-degree forgery for allegedly falsifying an employment record on April 4, 2007, while shelter president that indicated Frank Wright had worked there.

Franklin "Frank" Jefferson Wright entered an Alford plea to criminal facilitation to commit second-degree forgery.
An Alford plea means that both still maintain their innocence, but acknowledge that prosecutors likely had enough evidence to convict them at trial.

In exchange for the plea agreements, prosecutors recommended probated sentences for both.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed a felony theft charge and a tampering with physical evidence charge against Debra Wright.

The theft charge alleged that on Jan. 5, 2007, Debra Wright wrote a check payable to cash for $4,000 that wasn’t reimbursed to the shelter.

The tampering with physical evidence charge alleged that when she was asked to resign as shelter president on Nov. 10, 2007, she allegedly took records belonging to the Knox-Whitley Humane Association Inc., the technical entity that runs the shelter.

Court appearance

Entry of the pleas took several minutes as the couple faced questioning from Circuit Judge Dan Ballou.
When asked if he had enough time to consult with his attorney before entering the plea, Frank Wright hesitated before saying that he had.

Debra Wright said that she could take two or three years consulting with her attorney, Stephen Cessna, to better understand the process.

When asked by Ballou if he was satisfied with the services of his lawyer, David Hoskins, Frank Wright initially indicated no.
Frank Wright told the judge that he had the utmost respect for him and his father, who he had known for 40 years, that he was entering an Alford plea and had nothing more than that to say.

"I’m satisfied with my lawyer. I don’t have a problem with my lawyer," Debra Wright replied.

Ballou proceeded with Debra Wright’s plea hearing noting that the prosecution had recommended a four-year sentence to be probated for four years.

He set a Dec. 7 formal sentencing date in her case.

Ballou then proceeded with the remainder of Frank Wright’s plea and the issue of whether he was pleased with his attorney.
Frank Wright described counts against his wife for theft and tampering with physical evidence as "fraudulent."

"There is all kinds of information in this case. The deck is stacked," he told the judge adding that he had entered his Alford plea.

Cessna noted that the two counts of the indictment against Debra Wright related to theft of funds and taking records had been dismissed.

When Ballou explained to Frank Wright that he applauded him for standing behind his wife, but needed to know if he was satisfied with Hoskins legal services. Wright replied, "He’s done his best."

After further questioning from Ballou, Frank Wright told the judge, "Let’s go ahead and expedite this and get out of here."

Ballou explained that Wright could opt for a jury trial, prompting Wright to explain that he could not keep doing this.
Frank Wright said that he had been delivering newspapers and this was the couple’s only source of income.
He said that they were close to losing their home.

Debra Wright indicated that she wished she could have gotten the plea offer earlier so she could have slept on it rather than having to make a "snap decision."

Cessna explained that initially a plea offer had been made to the couple that was rejected. He said the case was set to be tried in July but got delayed because another older case was tried before it.

It is common to have several criminal cases set for trial on one day, and if a trial takes place for the oldest or most serious case to take priority with less serious cases being postponed.

Criminal trials are often continued for various reasons or settled the day they are set to be tried.

When the defendants arrived for court Tuesday, Cessna told Ballou that "the plea offer got better today."

When Ballou finally asked Frank Wright how he pled, he replied not guilty.

After conferring a few minutes with Hoskins, Frank Wright then told the judge that he pleaded guilty pursuant to the Alford plea.

Because Frank Wright’s amended charge was a misdemeanor offense, Ballou went ahead and sentenced him to the recommended 12 months in jail, but agreed to probate that time for two years.

Ballou also ordered Frank Wright to pay $130 court costs.

After checking his wallet, Frank Wright said that he could go ahead and pay it right there and was directed to the circuit clerk’s office.

Debra Wright’s plea was to a felony charge.

Restitution

One provision of the Alford plea is that it requires Debra Wright to pay restitution in regards to the alleged theft, if there isn’t a resolution to the matter.

Cessna told Ballou that the theft didn’t actually take place and that he had provided proof to the prosecution that it didn’t.
If the prosecution ends up agreeing that the theft didn’t take place, then there would be no restitution, but if they don’t then a restitution hearing will have to be held in regards to the $4,000 that Debra Wright allegedly took.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble said that when Wright was president of the shelter, its primary funding mechanism was bingo.

Each night that the shelter had bingo, Trimble said the shelter would write a check for cash for about $4,000 to serve as start-up money for the evening.

"There were a series of checks for $4,000 and $5,000 that were written as start up money for the bingo," Trimble said. "The allegation is that it was never re-deposited."

He said that there was a deposit about three days after the alleged theft for $4,000, which was for the same amount taken.

"I think what the animal shelter is saying is that there was a whole series of checks and that there is a $4,000 restitution that is missing," Trimble said. "I have to have people look at it to see. They have given me an outline of all the funds that were re-deposited. We will have to look at it to see."

Trimble noted that the Alford plea the Wrights’ entered was related to the forgery of employment records and not to the theft charge.

Shelter officials pleased

Current Knox-Whitley Animal Shelter Board President Barbara Storms said that she was pleased with the outcome of the case.

"If we get some restitution on the money that came up missing, then we will be pleased," Storms said. "I think they are still going to have a hearing on that and we will have to have bank statements to prove what was deposited and what was not deposited."

She said that the funds are badly needed since the shelter still runs largely off donations and funding it receives from local governments.

"It is real hard to meet our budget," she noted.

Storms added that the shelter is receiving at least 800 animals per month, and that it is difficult to feed and house all of the animals.

She said that the board has taken steps to improve accounting procedures since Wright left.

"We have hired an accountant, F.K. Perkins. They handle all of our bookkeeping and prepare monthly reports for us that correspond with all of our spay and neuter vouchers and our donations," Storms said.

"Everything is tracked. The deposits are all tracked. The officers have to go by the accountant’s office where they handle all the checks and pay the bills. The money is very carefully monitored now."

She added that cash donations are now put in a safe and that only the director handles the money.

"We have far more cash donations now that are reported than previously. I think we are doing a lot better job of handling funds," Storms added.

Both Debra Wright, Cessna, and Hoskins all declined to comment after court Tuesday.