CHEYENNE — A local woman accused of stealing roughly $30,000 from Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1881 Auxiliary was arrested on a second felony theft charge following a court appearance Thursday.
Cheryl K. Shannon was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Thursday in Laramie County Circuit Court on charges of felony theft and forgery.
According to the affidavit regarding her original charge, she stole $30,000 from the Post’s Auxiliary by making unauthorized bank withdrawals using a bank card issued to her as treasurer for the organization.
Shannon was unprepared for her hearing, appearing in front of Judge Antoinette Williams without a lawyer. Shannon claimed that the Cheyenne Police Department still had her purse, wallet, phone, credit cards and checkbook in evidence from her Dec. 6 arrest.
While Shannon repeatedly insisted that this had inhibited her from hiring a lawyer, interrupting the court to reiterate her point, Judge Williams told her that her reasoning wasn’t good enough for the court, and she needed to “figure it out.”
Williams rescheduled Shannon’s hearing for Dec. 30 at 11 a.m., giving her 10 days to hire legal representation, and court went into recess.
Before Shannon could leave the courtroom, however, she was arrested on a second felony theft charge regarding similar actions at the Disabled American Veterans (DAV).
DAV contacted CPD on Dec. 9 to report fraud, stating that Shannon allegedly stole $38,560 from the group while also being its treasurer, which she admitted to Detective Hedum, according to her booking sheet.
Shannon had been stealing money from the DAV for approximately the last two years by withdrawing money from their account using a DAV debit card, according to the booking sheet.
According to the arrest affidavit for the Post Auxiliary’s charges, Shannon withdrew $24,800 between January and September of this year, according to statements made to Officer Townsend in October.
Shannon was issued a bank card to enable her to fulfill her duties as treasurer, which was only to be used in case of emergency. She instead used the card to make unauthorized withdrawals from which the funds were not used for any of the authorized purposes.
The fraudulent ATM transactions were covered by forged receipts that presented an inaccurate account balance.
Shannon admitted to using the card to steal approximately $30,000 and forging bank documents to present to trustees statements during quarterly audits.
Shannon was initially arrested on charges of felony theft and felony forgery (making), both punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. Her second arrest was on a charge of felony theft, which is also punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
Bond for her initial arrest was set at $5,000 cash or surety, which has been posted. The bond status of her second arrest has yet to be filed with the court.