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Former Winchester Sun staff member charged with theft

July 21, 2012|By Fred Petke | The Winchester Sun

Clark County Detention Center

A Winchester woman was arrested late Thursday afternoon after allegedly embezzling about $24,000 from The Winchester Sun.

Michelle Holloman, 38, of 194 Wabash Ave. Apt. 9, was brought in for questioning Thursday afternoon, Winchester Police Capt. James Hall said, after company representatives reported the theft in June.

“It seems to be clear cut,” Hall said. “The evidence pointed directly to her. She made no statements to her involvement. With the evidence we had on hand, we felt it was necessary to charge her with a crime.”
Following the interview, she was arrested and charged with theft by unlawful taking more than $10,000, which is a felony with a sentence of five to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Holloman was the circulation manager of the Sun. In the arrest citation, detectives allege that she accepted cash payments from customers, but the entries were deleted from the company system, and other collected funds were never turned in.

In all, police believe she took an estimated $24,188 during a period of 13 months, from April 2011 until May 17. According to the incident report, she was accused of taking approximately $19,922 in cash from counter and dealer payments and $4,266 in coins from newspaper racks.

At the time of the alleged theft, Holloman was on probation from a previous charge in Fayette County.
On June 11, 2010, Holloman was charged in Lexington with theft by deception for taking $41,000 from a previous employer.

She was sentenced to five years in prison on the charge on Dec. 17, 2010, in Fayette Circuit Court and served just more than a month before being granted shock probation with conditions on Jan. 24, 2011.

Winchester Sun Circulation Director¿John Preston said Holloman’s prior criminal history failed to show up on a background check prior to her hiring.

Preston added that the thefts did not appear to affect delivery problems to customers.

She is being held in the Clark County Detention Center on a $10,000 cash bond, which the judge set due to her being on felony probation and being a flight risk due to the charge.

Contact Fred Petke at fpetke@winchestersun.com. Bob Flynn contributed to this article. He can be contacted at bflynn@winchestersun.com.

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