Officials say woman falsified leave for time off, pay.
By JOHN MANGALONZO (www.TheHawkeye.com)
FORT MADISON — State authorities have charged a former Iowa State Penitentiary correctional officer, alleging she forged military documents to make it appear she needed to be on leave for U.S. Army training.
The Iowa Attorney General’s Office have charged Jennifer Lynn Leggett, 26, of Niota, Ill., with second-degree theft and felonious misconduct in office. She could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison if convicted of both charges.
In addition to her employment at the prison, Leggett also was a member of the U.S. Army Reserve assigned to a detachment of the 801st Combat Support Hospital out of Bartonville, Ill. Court papers indicate when she attended drills as a reserve, the Department of Corrections paid her hourly wage of $19.31.
According to the investigation, officials at the Fort Madison facility reportedly told agents of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation attendance was an issue with Leggett, who had been reprimanded in the past for the issue.
In September, the director of human resources at ISP questioned some of the applications for leave submitted by Leggett, authorities said, adding ISP has acquired a training schedule from Leggett’s reserve unit as reference.
That document reportedly showed when the woman was scheduled to participate in training and the times she was absent from them.
Last March, Leggett submitted an application for military leave that had U.S. Army assignment dates of April 14 to 22, 2009. Authorities said she later submitted a second request, this time for July 6 to 20, 2009.
However, according to the documents from Leggett’s reserve unit, she did not have military duties on the days specified on the two leave requests.
Investigators said a closer review of the documents revealed they were U.S. Air Force Reserve papers, which authorities allege were altered to appear like it came from the Army.
Agents went by the tracking numbers on the documents and found they were previous military orders meant for another person, identified in court papers as Ashlee Craw, an Air Force reservist.
Investigators would soon discover Craw, who they say goes by the name of Ashlee Craw-Leggett, is the wife of Jennifer Leggett.
During a January interview between DCI agents and Jennifer Leggett, the woman allegedly admitted to forging her wife’s documents and submitted them to ISP officials.
Jennifer Leggett was paid nearly $2,000 for the unauthorized leave, state authorities said.
Leggett was hired as a correctional officer in October 2005. She worked at the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility until June 2007 when she was transferred to the Fort Madison facility as a vacation relief officer.
She later was reassigned to the facility’s Clinical Care Unit.
Leggett resigned from ISP in January following an internal investigation.
