GREEN RIVER, Wyo. (AP) - Authorities in southwest Wyoming have arrested a fire chief and his wife for allegedly embezzling funds.
Green River Fire Chief Michael Nomis, 50, is charged with felony theft and wrongful appropriation of public property. Stephanie Nomis, 46, is charged with felony theft, Sweetwater County sheriff’s officials said Monday.
Their arrests Friday followed an investigation into at least $125,000 missing from Green River Fire Department Foundation accounts, the Sheriff’s Department said in a release.
The accounts included three funded by local organizations and businesses for expenditures including equipment and victim services and a fourth, “social fund” account funded directly from the paychecks of the department’s volunteer firefighters.
The couple, who were jailed without bond, did not return phone and email messages left with the fire department Monday seeking comment.
The investigation into the missing money, some of which has been accounted for, covered a period from August, 2016, until this January, the sheriff’s office said.
Theft of $1,000 or more is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. Wrongful appropriation of public property is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine up to $1,000.
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