Woman Gets 7 Years for MUW Embezzlement

Godbey

Jeannie Godbey, 48, of Starkville, pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges today in Lowndes County Circuit Court. Judge Jim Kitchens sentenced her to 10 years but suspended three. She also was fined $1,000.

Under current law, she’ll likely serve between two and three years. She already has repaid the Foundation $27,769.26. She could have faced more time if she had been treated as a habitual offender because of a prior theft-related conviction. But prosecutors didn’t pursue that penalty.

She was fired in the spring of 2012 after the Foundation discovered the thefts. Godbey worked at the Foundation for about three years. She stole the money between May of 2011 and January of 2012.