Jones Leaders Address Embezzlement Allegations Against Former Town Employee

Leaders of Jones spoke on Wednesday about a state investigation into alleged embezzlement within the town, saying they will do everything they can to prevent such acts from happening again.

Jones Mayor Missy Wilkinson and Police Chief Bryan Farrington joined Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Public Information Manager Hunter McKee to answer questions from the media regarding allegations of embezzlement against former town employee Pamela Lucas.

State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd said an investigative audit showed that between January 2016 and December 2019, the Court Clerk's Office in Jones received $59,683 in municipal fines and fees but did not deposit them. The office also failed to record the collections to the Offender Data Information System (ODIS) as required by law, according to the audit. "This is something we inherited. This should have been handled years ago," said Jones Mayor Missy Wilkinson during Wednesday's news conference. 

The 69-year-old Pamela Lucas, who worked as the assistant city clerk in Jones from Feb. 17, 2015, to Feb. 14, 2019, admitted that she stole money from the town by altering documents and fraudulently changing the citation amounts, the OSBI said. The state audit said there were $38,470 in unposted citation payments while Lucas was assistant city clerk. "These were court fines, so this was something that our town desperately needed," said Wilkinson. "And so it doesn't matter if it was $5 or if it was $500,000. It was wrong and our point is it's not going to happen any longer."

The state audit report gave examples of what Lucas allegedly did. During one instance, a person paid $885 and was given a receipt for the full amount, the report said. But Lucas then allegedly threw away the receipt and created a new receipt showing $350 instead of the $885, the audit report continued. 

Neither the person's payment of $885 nor the altered amount of $350 was posted on ODIS, the report stated. But the $350 was listed as paid on the person's citation documents in the town records, according to the audit report.

Lucas was fired in February 2019. But the state audit report said of the $59,683 in unposted payments, $21,213 were unaccounted for after Lucas was terminated. The audit report said Town Clerk Tammy Wallace and Deputy Clerk Brenda Rowlett added and modified numerous citations. However, the two women denied they were involved in misappropriating money, the audit report said. "It could not be determined if the data changes were made to correct the fraudulent entries of Lucas or to conceal other transactions," the audit report added.

Rowlett left her job in 2022 while Wallace was on administrative leave, said the Town of Jones in a news release. 

During Wednesday's news conference, News 9 asked if there are more details on Rowlett and Wallace. But Farrington said he could not comment because it's still an open investigation. When asked if there are details on what happened to the $21,213, McKee said the investigation is ongoing.

The OSBI arrested Lucas on Tuesday on a complaint of embezzlement of state property. Rowlett and Wallace were not facing charges as of Wednesday.

Jones leaders announced that they have taken steps to prevent further embezzlement. They include separating the offices of town clerks and court clerks, changing financial reporting systems, and installing security cameras, among other things.