District Attorney Micheal Murray reported that Friday, December 4, 2009 a Brown County Jury sentenced Jeina Hogan to 1 year in State Jail, and recommended community supervision after that same jury found Hogan guilty of Theft in an amount greater than $1500 but less than $20,000 – Aggregated. As a condition of community supervision, District Judge Stephen Ellis ordered Hogan to repay $18,829 in restitution to Citizen’s National Bank of Brownwood for losses due to the theft. Assistant District Attorney Ryan Locker represented the State of Texas in the trial against Hogan.
During the guilt/innocent phase, Assistant DA Locker presented evidence to the jury that, between April 14, 2005 and June 1, 2005, Jeina Hogan stole a total of $18,829 from Citizens National Bank as part of a continuous scheme or plan. Hogan was working as a part-time teller at the bank’s branch inside the Brownwood Wal-Mart. Hogan had used an elaborate method of falsifying “cash-out” transactions to conceal most of the thefts.
Hogan’s crimes were discovered when money was determined to be missing from the vault, resulting in a surprise cash count of Hogan’s teller drawer on June 1, 2005. Hogan’s drawer was $5000 short in $100 bills. Bank employees then analyzed Hogan’s transactions for the preceding two months and discovered the additional thefts.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty in the evening of Thursday, December 3, 2009. Punishment testimony began Friday. Bank Vice President Keith Clark testified that the thefts caused substantial stress to employees and more than 100 lost man hours dedicated to investigation in addition to the $18,829 stolen by Hogan. Three witnesses presented by defense established that Hogan had never been convicted of a felony and that the conduct for which she was convicted was an aberration from her usual character. After consideration of all of the evidence, the jury sentenced Hogan to one year in the State Jail and recommended community supervision, which was imposed by District Judge with the condition that Hogan pay full restitution for the thefts.
