Big Lake Chamber fights to restore tax-exempt status

PALMER — The conviction and sentencing of a prominent community businesswoman for embezzlement has proven divisive to the community of Big Lake, officials testified in court.

Donna A. Turner, the former Big Lake Chamber of Commerce treasure accused of embezzling about $30,000 from the chamber during her tenure, pleaded guilty to a single count of second-degree theft, leading to the dismissal of charges of first-degree theft, schemes to defraud, and falsifying business records.

Superior Court Judge Vanessa White sentenced Turner to 90 days, according to a recording of the proceedings in court.

Turner also faces three years’ suspended imposition of sentence (a type of probation), and a requirement that she repay $29,216.17 to the chamber over the period of her probation. That amount could change defense attorney Scott Dattan told the court, because Turner may have already paid about $5,000 back to the chamber.

While the ruling brings to an end one phase of the trial, more hard choices remain, former chamber president Nancy Linley told White during a victim’s impact statement.

She described the experience as a “bookkeeper’s nightmare.”

As a result of the accounting shell game, chamber officials were unable to reconcile their books, which lead to the revocation of the chamber’s 501(c)(6) tax-exempt status with the IRS, Linley said. The chamber also has been forced to hire a bookkeeper and an attorney to address its IRS troubles, Linley said.

Turner’s actions also divided the community and have impacted chamber memberships, Linley testified.

“The overall reputation of the chamber has suffered significantly,” she said. “Ms. Turner was very involved in the local business community, and the initial allegations and ultimately charges have split our community between those that don’t care and those that really don’t believe that she did this.”

Restitution, not incarceration, was the most crucial part of the sentence, Linley said.

“It has never been the chamber’s intent or wish for this to result in incarceration for Ms. Turner, but prompt repayment of those funds would be helpful in keeping our chamber operational,” she said.

The prosecution did not push for harder sentencing because instances of lower and mid-level embezzlement prosecuted have typically ended with probationary sentences, District Attorney Roman Kalytiak told the court. Prosecutors across the state have dealt with a rash of similar instances, he said.

“This is not the first case of this type our office has dealt with,” Kalytiak said. “We’re seeing this type of behavior across the state, under slightly different circumstances.”

Turner’s case also used methods of embezzlement common to other cases, and features similarities of motives and backgrounds, he said.

“People doing this don’t have much of a criminal history,” Kalytiak said. “Sometimes the motives for these type of offenses are hard to figure out.”

Such instances of embezzlement involve suspicious self-written checks and account transfers, he said.

“Eventually, somebody catches on to this,” Kalytiak said. “Sometimes it’s sooner and sometimes it’s later, but eventually with the proper investigation we can have a fairly good idea of what was taken.”

In this case, the motive was driven by emotional turmoil in Turner’s life, defense attorney Dattan said. Turner, the former owner of the Donna’s Corner bridal shop, was married to a successful businessman unnamed in both court documents and the sentencing hearing.

Turner’s husband’s “business started having difficulties and her marriage started having difficulties at approximately the same time,” Dattan said. “It was almost a perfect storm in her life, because at the same time she was deprived of her ability to see her grandson. These things emotionally all sort of roiled together in Ms. Turner’s life.”

“The money she took was immediately used to help her husband’s business, I believe with the intention that she could repay it, no harm, no foul,” Dattan added.

Turner also agreed with prosecutors and the chamber that restitution was the critical part, Dattan said.

“She wants to focus on repaying the money she knows she shouldn’t have taken in the first place,” he said.

White, a fellow Big Lake resident, said she did not personally believe the chamber was less reputable as a result of the case.

“I would just like to add that the Chamber of Commerce has not diminished in my mind,” she said.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.