Former Fort Worth Rodeo Bookkeeper Sentenced to 15 Years in Scheme to Steal $1.3 Million

A former bookkeeper for Fort Worth's Stockyards Rodeo will spend 15 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to stealing $1.3 million from the organization.D'Ann Elizabeth Wagner learned her fate Wednesday in Judge George Gallagher's 396th District Court in Fort Worth.Wagner was sentenced on a charge of theft of property over $200,000. According to prosecutors, she used a PayPal account on the rodeo's website to commit the thefts over a three-year period. Wagner set up the PayPal account, which was used for online domestic and international ticket sales, and then linked her own personal information to the account, attorneys said. She then used a debit card issued by PayPal to spend the money on herself.Investigators pointed to more than 11,000 transactions that took place between January 2014 and March 2017, which added up to more than $1.3 million. Wagner used the money for vacations, gambling and to buy two Harley-Davidson motorcycles, investigators discovered.Wagner "stole more than six times the minimum threshold for this first-degree felony charge," prosecutor Brooke Panuthos said. "She had 11,000 chances to stop her criminal behavior and stop stealing from employers who trusted her. She showed no conscience and no remorse for her actions."  Continue reading...