Woman pleads guilty to $18K embezzlement from White Lake Fire Department

Kai Englisch, The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·2 min read

Nov. 29—PLANKINTON, S.D. — A White Lake woman faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $18,000 from the town's fire department.

Jayna Doering, 46, used department funds to make personal purchases at a number of businesses including County Fair Food Store, Walmart and Dollar General, totaling 216 transactions in all over a four-year span, according to court documents.

She pleaded guilty to grand theft by embezzlement, a Class 4 felony that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and up to $20,000 in fines. The guilty plea was entered into court records on Nov. 16.

One member of the White Lake Fire Department said that he "never saw this coming and trusted Jayna," according to a statement in a court affidavit recorded by Aurora County law enforcement. Calls from the Mitchell Republic to the White Lake Fire Department on Wednesday were not immediately answered.

Purchases made by Doering also include numerous payments through PayPal transactions and Amazon, as well as ATM withdrawals and pharmacy payments. The White Lake Fire Department provided law enforcement with a spreadsheet of unapproved expenses incurred by Doering, entered in court records.

Court records indicate that the expenses were all part of monthly billing reports that Doering, who was in charge of the department's finances, would bring to the fire department's meetings. Documents indicate that Doering allegedly "would use big purchases, fundraisers and income to help mask the unauthorized debit card purchases."

"Jayna writes it all down. Jayna does the billing at her house on the computer. [At monthly meetings] she goes over what the fire department owes for bills — who we owe and what we owe. Whatever Jayna says the bills are, we just pay it," one member of the volunteer fire department said to law enforcement personnel, court records indicate.

When asked why she had done this, court records indicate that Doering said she had been "overwhelmed with bills and it just happened." She seemed "very emotional" when being questioned by law enforcement, court documents noted.

A sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 10, 2024.