Plea deal proposed in bookkeeper theft case

SANDPOINT — A plea agreement is being crafted to resolve the case against a woman accused of writing unauthorized checks from her former employer several years ago.

Jean Marie Tepner-Galland is charged with one count of grand theft for writing four unauthorized checks on the account of Kootenai Excavators in the spring of 2006. The aggregate amount of the thefts exceeded $1,000, charging papers say.

Tepner-Galland, a 37-year-old former Bonner County resident, committed the thefts while serving as the excavation company’s bookkeeper, according to court documents.

Tepner-Galland, who also uses the surname Lucas, was charged in the thefts in January, after she had reportedly relocated to Billings, Mont. Yellowstone County, Mont., detention records showed she was the subject of a $50,000 fugitive warrant.

Tepner-Galland waived her right to a preliminary hearing after she was returned to Idaho and her bail was reduced to $10,000, court records indicate. She posted bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on the felony charge in 1st District Court next month.

Tepner-Galland’s counsel, Michael Waldrup, has filed a motion which seeks to postpone the hearing because of a scheduling conflict and also because there is a plea agreement being proposed. The terms of the plea agreement were not disclosed.

A grand theft conviction in Idaho carries a prison sentence of one to 14 years.