The former South Dakota state employee charged with embezzling $1.8 million has been found guilty.
Sixty-eight-year-old Lonna Carroll was found guilty of two felony aggravated grand theft counts Thursday by a Hughes County Court, according to Attorney General Marty Jackley.
Carroll was accused of stealing state and federal money while working for the state Department of Social Services. Jackley said she embezzled the funds between 2010 and March of 2023, when she retired from the department.
“This was a violation of trust by someone who had access to public funds,” said Jackley, who was co-prosecutor in the trial. “She stole money from the accounts of children who were in the custody of DSS, and now she is being held accountable for her actions.”
The majority of the funds were supposed to go toward supporting children in foster care, investigators say.
Carroll faces up to 40 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
