A former administrative assistant to an Arkansas county official pleaded guilty to fraudulent use of a credit card after prosecutors accused her of using public money to buy $200,000 worth of personal items, including a tuxedo for her pet pug.
Kristi Goss, 44, was set to stand trial on Tuesday for six counts of fraudulent use of a credit cards, but instead she pleaded guilty on Monday.
Authorities accused Goss of fraudulently charging $200,000 to a Garland County credit card on purchases including the dog tuxedo, a diamond bracelet, tickets to Arkansas Razorbacks sporting events, sequined throw pillows and pet insurance.
Kristi Goss (pictured), 44, a former administrative assistant to an Arkansas county official pleaded guilty to fraudulent use of a credit card after prosecutors accused her of using public money to buy $200,000 worth of personal items, including a tuxedo for her pet pug
Authorities accused Goss of fraudulently charging $200,000 to a Garland County credit card on purchases including the dog tuxedo (file image), a diamond bracelet, tickets to Arkansas Razorbacks sporting events, sequined throw pillows and pet insurance
Goss had worked as an administrative assistant for Garland County Judge Rick Davis in Hot Springs until June 3, 2016, after dramatic discrepancies in the court’s accounting came to light.
According to police, Goss racked up the bills in a spending spree that started in 2012 and continued until May this year, The Sentinel-Record reported.
Goss, who had worked at the county court since 2004, was responsible for paying bills and buying IT equipment using the credit card.
But on October 29, 2012 she paid off an Entergy electricity bill on the card – the first confirmed act of fraud in a long series of such, according to an affidavit.
Other payments include more than $4,400 of electric bills, more than $4,900 in phone bills, $975 Arkansas Razorback tickets, a $128.98 diamond bracelet and sequin throw pillows for $87.98, cops say.
She also bought the dog tuxedo for her pug for an unspecified amount at a time that coincided with her children’s prom, prosecutors say.
Police also suspect she was funneling money away from other Garland County departments to pay off the bills.
Goss’s final confirmed payment was on May 25, 2016, for an Amazon purchase, officials said.
Legislative auditor Jimmy Locke said at the time that 3,722 charges were made to the card between December 2012, when it was first obtained, and May 2016.
In total $162,598.12 of charges were confirmed as unauthorized, Locke said.
Goss (pictured July 2016) was also arrested shortly after she left her position at the court house. In July 2016, police allegedly caught Goss and her husband in possession of narcotics
Goss worked as an administrative assistant for Garland County Judge Rick Davis at this court house
Mary Culpepper, chief of staff and Goss’s boss, told ASP special agent David Moss that ‘some of the months did not match and the same statement was being used numerous times’.
Culpepper told investigators at the time that she’d signed off on just the first page of the credit card bill, without looking at the itemized bill, because she trusted Goss.
Shortly after the allegations surfaced, Judge Davis released a statement in which he distanced himself from Goss, saying: ‘This ex-employee was one that I inherited.’
Goss was charged with six felony fraud counts – four involving amounts of more than $25,000 and two of more than $5,000 each, punishable by up to 10 years, but she opted to plead guilty at a pretrial hearing on Monday.
If she is convicted she could face a total of 100 years in prison, if the sentences run consecutively.
Goss was also arrested shortly after she left her position at the court house.
In July 2016, police allegedly caught Goss and her husband in possession of narcotics.
Goss will be sentenced for her fraud charges on November 22. A gag order prevents attorneys from speaking publicly about this case.