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Ex-Missouri city clerk gets 15 years for theft, forgery

Posted at 11:28 AM, Feb 12, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-12 12:28:34-05

GALLATIN, Mo. — A former clerk for the northwestern Missouri city of Coffey has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to theft and forgery charges.

Mary Lou Browning was sentenced this week in Daviess County and ordered to pay restitution. She was charged in 2018 after a state audit showed more than $60,000 missing from city coffers. The audit accused Browning of failing to make deposits, receiving improper payroll payments and falsifying board minutes and other various financial reports during her time as city clerk from September 2015 to August 2017.

On Thursday, Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway issued a statement saying Browning's prosecution "puts others on notice that wrongdoing will not be tolerated."

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