Former Arkansas County Clerks Sentenced For Theft

Wednesday, May 2nd 2007, 6:17 am

By: News On 6

WALDRON, Ark. (AP) -- The former clerk in Scott County in Arkansas, who once pleaded guilty to a drug charge in Oklahoma, now has pleaded guilty to a theft charge in his home state. Forty-six-year-old James Kelly Owens was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in jail and ordered to pay almost $10,700 in restitution. His jail sentence can be served on weekends.

Owens' former chief deputy clerk, 39-year-old Lisa Jean Yandell, also pleaded guilty to a theft count. She was sentenced to 48 months probation.

The two were accused of writing checks to themselves from county coffers.

A judge ordered both Owens and Yandell to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings.

Last December, Owens and Yandell pleaded guilty in LeFlore County, Oklahoma, to possession of methamphetamine and were sentenced to two years' probation

They were arrested in 2005 as they drove away from the Choctaw Casino.