Theft suspect waives hearing

SANDPOINT — A Washington state woman accused of stealing from her former employer through a Priest River bank waived her right to a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

Sylvia Ann Fleenor is scheduled to be arraigned next month on a charge of grand theft, according to court documents.

A probable cause affidavit alleges Fleenor made 54 unauthorized cash withdrawals from Healing Leaves Ministry’s savings account between the fall of 2007 and fall of 2008. The withdrawals totaled $31,697.46, the affidavit said.

Healing Leaves Ministry, based in the northeastern Washington community of Rice, undertakes humanitarian medical programs in developing countries and sells natural nutritional supplements and other health products, according to its Web site.

Fleenor, 36, of Spokane, Wash., admitted making the withdrawals at Panhandle State Bank when she was confronted by the ministry’s founders and Priest River Police, court records indicate. Fleenor said in court filings she is diagnosed with schizophrenia and allegedly told authorities she took the money because the voices she was hearing in her head told her to.

Fleenor claimed she did not know where the withdrawn money was and it remains unaccounted for, court documents said.

In exchange for not forcing the state to convince a judge there’s enough evidence to justify a trial, Fleenor’s bail was reduced from $50,000 to $5,000, court records show.