EVANSTON — Two former employees of the Evanston Housing Authority (EHA) entered pleas of no contest to charges of theft of EHA property in Third District Court on Tuesday, Oct. 30. Gerry Bolger and Donna Evans were both arraigned on charges of felony theft for taking property belonging to EHA between Jan. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2015.

Another former EHA employee, Dustin Robbins, had previously entered a guilty plea to felony theft and was sentenced on Oct. 30.

Attorneys for both Bolger and Evans said they had reached a plea agreement with the prosecution through which both would pay restitution and receive a period of probation of one year if the restitution was paid in full by that time.

Otherwise probation would be for a period of five years. Bolger’s restitution would be in the amount of $7,000, while Evans would have to pay $10,000.

Robbins was sentenced to two years supervised probation and he was ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution. As a first-time offender under Wyoming Statute 7-13-301, Robbins’ case will be dismissed if he fulfills the terms of his sentence and pays the restitution.

Judge Joseph Bluemel has not yet accepted the no contest pleas and has ordered pre-sentence investigations and substance abuse assessments prior to issuing his decision. Bluemel set sentencing in both cases for Jan. 17, 2019; however, Evans’ attorney, Jim Phillips, requested sentencing be delayed until February, as he will be unavailable in January.

If the pleas are accepted, both Bolger and Evans would also receive first-time offender status and their cases will be dismissed if they fulfill the terms of their probation and pay restitution in full.

Bolger’s attorney is Leonard Kaumo of Rock Springs and the prosecution attorney is John Worrall of Worland. Worrall was appointed as special prosecutor because Uinta County Attorney Loretta Howieson’s ex-husband is a former chair of the EHA board.

A 2016 audit by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) led to the firing of Bolger, Evans and Robbins, who is Evans’ son. The audit found that at least $16,078 of HUD funds was misspent and that EHA couldn’t account for another $110,000.

“The Authority used its purchase cards to pay for personal expenses, such as remodeling of staff members’ personal residences, gas for nonbusiness miles and other personal goods and services,” the audit states.

After further investigation by law enforcement, all three defendants were charged with felony theft. Evans allegedly stole about $28,000, while Bolger is accused of stealing $12,000 and Robbins $6,200.

Worrall said the restitution amounts were based on insurance deductibles and the amounts each defendant allegedly stole. The housing authority had two policies in place to protect it from employee theft, and each had a $10,000 deductible.

He said the insurance companies could pursue civil claims against each defendant should they determine it’s worth their while.

“This particular matter and the people involved … it was sort of a divisive event in your community. … There were a lot of conflicts involved,” Worrall said. “My goal here was to address the conduct and make the victim whole, and I believe we’ve done that.”

Worrall said all three defendants have clean records, but made very poor judgment for some time.

“This is one of those aberrations that comes out of the blue,” he said. “I think it was a case of someone taking something by accident and then realizing they got away with it. And then they do it again and again. … Fortunately the losses weren’t greater.”