Ex-Wabash Township trustee Teising wants to delay serving sentence during appeal process
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Former Wabash Township Trustee and now convicted thief Jennifer Teising faces sentencing on March 7, but Teising intends to request a delay of any incarceration or fines while filing an appeal.
Teising's attorney, Karen Celestino-Horseman, indicated during Friday's status hearing that she planned to file a motion to stay Teising's sentence handed down by Tippecanoe Superior 5 Judge Kristen McVey on March 7. The delay will be while Teising appeals the verdict — and presumably the sentence.
McVey will rule on the motion to stay at the time of sentencing.
Celestino-Horseman attended Friday's hearing via phone, and Teising did not attend.
While a presentence report can be waived for defendants such as Teising, who are convicted of a Level 6 felony, Celestino-Horseman requested the report for Teising.
A presentence report provides a recommended sentence after interviewing the convict about family history, criminal history and drug use. Presentence reports also make recommendations about the length of a prison sentence.
The sentencing hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. March 7. McVey noted that Celestino-Horseman's motion to stay the sentence will need to be filed before that hearing.
Teising will be sentenced on 21 convictions for theft for collecting her salary while forfeiting her office by residing outside of the township.
Teising sold her West Lafayette home in June 2020, and claimed to live at 132 Knox Drive in West Lafayette.
But she didn't reside there.
She lived out of her travel trailer at her friends' house in Anderson, or out of the trailer at Tippecanoe County Councilwoman Lisa Dullum's rural farmhouse in Sheffield Township in the county.
She lived for months at a Panama City Beach, Florida, trailer park starting at the end of October 2020.
During a Dec. 18, 2020, interview with the Journal & Courier, she was asked where she presently staying while "working remotely."
“It’s none of your business,” Teising said when asked specifically where she was. “Remotely means from wherever. I have worked from the township remotely from wherever I have been on planet Earth.
“I cannot imagine why it’s important for you to know where I am physically on Earth while this pandemic is raging.”
She was in Panama City Beach, Fla., when she said that, and four days later, a USA Today Network photographer took pictures of her at the trailer park, and the Journal & Courier published its investigation.
Teising's claim of working remotely to maintain a "bubble" to protect her from COVID-19 did not persuade McVey, who presided over Teising's bench trial on Dec. 13, 14 and 15. McVey published her verdict on Jan. 5.
"... (T)he common understanding of the 'bubble' concept was that person would work remotely from their 'true, permanent and fixed home.' Rather than maintaining COVID 'bubble' in Wabash Township — even from her RV — the Defendant instead traveled extensively from June 2020 - March 2021 and nearly entirely outside of Wabash Township," McVey wrote in the verdict.
"Upon the Defendant's move out of Wabash Township in June 2020, to live a nomadic RV lifestyle, she ceased to ... make her 'true, permanent and fixed' home in Wabash Township, West Lafayette, Indiana, and forfeited the office of Township Trustee."
Teising potentially faces between six months and 30 months on each of the 21 Level 6 felonies.
She also faces a possible fine up to $10,000 and might be ordered to pay restitution for the money she received as her salary after moving outside of the township.
Teising's 2020 and 2021 salary was $36,444, according to township budget meetings.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Jennifer Teising wants to delay any sentence or fines while appealing
