Sentencing was held in Daviess County on February 10th for a former Coffey city clerk who pled guilty in November to felony stealing and forgery charges.
Online court information shows Mary Lou Browning was sentenced to the Department of Corrections for five years each on stealing $750 or more and two counts of forgery. She was also sentenced to 10 years on stealing–$25,000 or more. The sentences on the stealing charges are consecutive to one another but concurrent to the forgery charges. The sentences are to run consecutively to all other sentences.
It was further ordered that Browning pay all court costs and the board bill. Civil judgment was entered against her for the Crime Victims Compensation Fund for $46. Restitution is to be determined via a hearing on March 10th.
The charges against Browning were filed in 2018 after an audit of Coffey by State Auditor Nicole Galloway showed more than $60,000 missing from the city. The audit accused Browning of failing to make deposits, receiving improper payroll payments, and falsifying board minutes and various financial reports during her time as city clerk from September 2015 to August 2017.
