A second former Starkville Parks and Recreation employee has been indicted for an embezzlement scheme that saw five arrested through December and January.
A grand jury indicted Marion Watson, 46, of Eupora for conspiracy to defraud the state. Watson was served her indictment on Tuesday, according to files available Wednesday in Oktibbeha County Circuit Court.
Former parks director Herman Peters was also served an indictment for conspiracy to defraud the state on Monday. Watson, according to her indictment, conspired with Peters to defraud the city of Starkville by “obtaining payment or allowance from public funds of the city of Starkville for employment wages based on a false or fraudulent claim.”
Starkville police arrested Watson for embezzlement on Jan. 18. The same day, SPD also arrested Peters and former parks employees Schronda Eddins and Anthony Stevenson. Diane Evans, a former parks and recreation administrative assistant, was arrested on Dec. 29.
Watson worked as a contractor with the department. According to court files, Peters worked with Evans to pay Watson, Stevenson and Eddins for more hours than they worked. Watson’s indictment lists the fraudulent activity as occurring between January 2015 and November 2017. She’s accused of receiving $2,420 in fraudulent pay, according to city court documents.
Peters was accused of embezzling a total of $21,702.50.
So far, Peters and Watson are the only two of the five that have been served, as of Thursday morning.
Watson is out of jail on $5,000 bond.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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