Ex-worker pleads no contest to Kansas county theft

A former employee of a northeast Kansas county has pleaded no contest to stealing $16,000 in public money.

KNZA-FM reports 40-year-old Janette Lyn Fund, of Delia, appeared Friday in Jackson County District Court. She pleaded no contest to 20 felony counts of making false information and 20 misdemeanor counts of theft.

Prosecutor Shawna Miller says 140 additional counts were dismissed. Fund will be sentenced Dec. 13 and agreed to pay full restitution.

Fund was an administrative assistant in the county’s noxious weed, landfill and recycling departments from April 2011 until July, when the sheriff said she was caught with missing cash that should have been deposited.

Authorities say the thefts went on for two years. Fund was accused of falsifying accounts to cover the losses.