Turner v. State

Cassandra Jill Turner pleaded guilty to three counts of theft by taking as a fiduciary1 and was sentenced by the trial court as a first offender to serve 15 years, followed by 30 years on probation. Additionally, the trial court ordered that, as a term of her probation, Turner pay her former employer, Middle Georgia Management Services “MGMS”, a total of $1,877,531.03 in restitution. Turner appeals the trial court’s order of restitution, arguing that it erred by 1 failing to consider her current financial condition and future earning capacity; 2 failing to consider the factors required by OCGA § 17-14-10; 3 finding that the amount of the award was supported by a preponderance of the evidence; and 4 imposing the full amount of MGMS’s loss upon her in light of the evidence presented regarding the involvement of a deceased co-conspirator.2 For the reasons set forth infra , we vacate the trial court’s judgment with regard to the total amount of the restitution award and remand the case with direction. We otherwise affirm the judgment in all other respects. The record shows that MGMS is a loan-provider with 17 branches throughout Georgia. Turner became the manager at MGMS’s Statesboro office in 2004, and her close friend, Barbara Morris, was employed at the same office as a customer-service representative. The Statesboro office was comprised of one part-time and three full-time employees, including Turner and Morris, who were responsible for handling the loan-making process.

In November 2008, auditors from Wells Fargo —with whom MGMS held a $10 million line of credit —conducted a semi-annual review and noticed discrepancies that were brought to the attention of Ricky Gay, an MGMS supervisor who oversaw operations at the Statesboro office and others. On December 2, 2008, Gay went to the Statesboro office to investigate an odd number of loans with rescheduled payment-due dates. Gay discovered that, unbeknownst to him, the loans had been rescheduled using his password; thus, he began to check the documentation of the approximately 500 questionable accounts.