Two Gainesville residents indicted in felony stealing
Gainesville residents Manuel Asher and Stephanie Asher have been indicted by an Ozark County grand jury of stealing charges in connection with money Manuel’s mother said was taken from a joint account she shares with him.
The complaint documents in the cases show that Manuel is accused of stealing more than $60,000 and is charged with the class C felony, and Stephanie is accused of stealing more than $4,000, charged with a lesser class D felony due to the lower amount.
The pair are represented by West Plains-area defense attorney Jacob Garrett. They appeared in court Nov. 9 for a hearing and are scheduled to reappear in the cases at 9 a.m. Jan. 4.
According to the probable cause statement prepared by Ozark County Deputy Seth Miller, the officer spoke with Betty Jackson on April 9 this year after she reported theft of money from her son, Manuel.
“Betty indicated that she had received an insurance check for her residence which had been damaged in a [Dec. 25, 2019] fire. The check amount she received was $108,800. Her son, Manuel, approached Betty stating he would fix her residence. Betty agreed and deposited the check into a joint account at Stockmens Bank in Gainesville. Betty spent $39,081.59 for initial supplies, leaving $63,718.41 to be spent on the home. At no time did Betty state to Manuel the funds could be used for his personal use and the money was to only be spent on the residence,” Miller’s report indicates.
Miller says that the bank records show teller withdrawals from the joint account by Manual soon after the account was opened. They included three $5,000 withdrawals on Feb. 7, Feb. 14 and Feb. 28, 2020, totaling $15,000. Those, paired with other cash withdrawals Manuel reportedly made from the bank account added up to $36,100 in all.
Miller writes in his report that Manuel also wrote checks to his wife Stephanie from the account, and other checks were written to Stephanie in a handwriting that wasn’t consistent with Manuel’s handwriting, the report says. There were reportedly five checks written to Stephanie, which totaled $3,670.
The bank records also reportedly showed a check for $4,074.08 that was written to Lowes, which Betty told the officer was used for Manuel and Stephanie’s own kitchen remodel at their home. Betty told the officer that she did not authorize the money to be used that way.
Other checks detailed in the court document include a $2,644.06 check written to a business on March 2020 for work completed on Manuel’s Jeep and a $2,000 check written to an individual with the memo line, “mower.”
Ozark County Prosecutor Matt Weatherman has used the Ozark County grand jury process more frequently than past prosecutors, who generally filed charges themselves. Weatherman says the grand jury, which consists of a group of Ozark County citizens, meets once a month and hears several cases. During that time, the prosecutor and sheriff put on evidence, and the grand jury determines if there is enough evidence to indict the defendants on the charges (the grand jury does not make any indication of guilt or innocence at this point). The hearings are closed to the public.
Once a defendant is indicted, the case is immediately transferred to circuit court instead of beginning in the lower associate circuit division, which allows cases to move more quickly through the court system. Weatherman says the grand jury process also allows witnesses and testimony to remain out of public view at the early stage of the case, unlike when charges are filed directly by the prosecutor and a preliminary hearing, which is open to the public.