New Madrid woman charged with stealing from fundraiser

Thursday, September 5, 2019
Jennifer Newton

NEW MADRID, Mo. — A New Madrid woman has been charged with stealing more than $5,000 from a fundraiser.

Jennifer S. Newton, 45, was charged with felony stealing after stealing from a fundraiser for Jim Harris, the New Madrid fire chief, who is battling cancer.

Newton is accused of creating a Facebook fundraiser for Harris on July 26 to help pay for medical bills and other financial burdens.

According to court documents, the fundraiser ended in August with a total of $7,432 and Newton transferred a total of $2,010 to Jessica Harris, Jim Harris’ wife. On Aug. 27 after being questioned by Jessica Harris about the status of the remaining funds, Newton attempted to send the remaining $5,180.49 via PayPal but the transaction was declined by her bank.

Further investigation found that Facebook deposited a total of $7,200.78 into a bank account belonging to Newton’s mother between Aug. 5-23. There were numerous transactions on the account to various retailers, as well as to what is believed to be medical bills.

Newton was interviewed by law enforcement on Aug. 30 and said she created the fundraiser and is the only person who had access to the bank account funds. She admitted to spending the money that was deposited to Facebook, rather than transferring it to Harris.

Newton admitted to not only spending fundraiser money but money from her mother’s Social Security payment on various personal purchases.

During the interview, Newton admitted she knew what she did was wrong and said she was going to cash out a retirement in order to pay back the missing funds.

Newton posted a $1,000 cash bond and her arraignment is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday.

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