The former town clerk of a small Mississippi town was convicted this week of embezzling more than $80,000 in taxpayer money.

State Auditor Shad White said the former Town Clerk of Roxie, Amanda Lewis, has been convicted of embezzlement in Circuit Court in Franklin County. The case was prosecuted by District Attorney Shameca Collins’s office in Judge Debra Blackwell’s court chambers. The guilty plea and sentencing were recorded last week.

Lewis was arrested by Special Agents from the State Auditor’s office in February 2021 after being indicted. She embezzled over $80,000 from the town by manipulating accounting software and skimming cash meant to pay local water bills. A $109,425.77 demand letter was issued to her upon arrest.

Judge Blackwell sentenced Lewis to spend twenty years in the supervision of the Department of Corrections under house arrest and probation.

The Auditor’s office has already recovered $50,000 of Lewis’s demand by filing a claim against her surety bond. The judge ordered her to repay what is still owed to Roxie taxpayers along with other court costs and fees.

“This is another example of great work by our investigators leading to a conviction,” said White. “They’ve piled up wins this year on behalf of taxpayers.”