RUSSELLVILLE - Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Monday, March 19, that the former County Administrator of Franklin County was convicted of two felony ethics law violations involving $753,889 of county funds. Crista Lynn Madden, 48, of Franklin County, pleaded guilty today in Franklin County Circuit Court.
Madden was arrested and pleaded guilty by way of information this afternoon to one count of use of official position for personal gain and one count of use of equipment for personal gain. The plea was taken in front of specially appointed Circuit Judge Pride Tompkins.
In December, 2007, Madden began a scheme by which she generated false records of checks and then made the originals payable to herself. She would create a false purchase order for a fictitious vendor and generate a check payable to that company. Before printing the check, she placed a strip of tape on the paper where the name for payee would be printed. For county records, she would make a copy of the check that showed the company name. She then removed the tape from the original and reprinted the check with her own name listed as payee. The check was then deposited into her personal account. She continued this scheme until she left the position in July, 2017, depositing a total of $753,889 in various private bank accounts that she held.
The matter was discovered in an audit by the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts and investigated by special agents of the Attorney General’s Office. After being confronted by special agents, Madden gave a full confession to both offenses.
Madden faces a penalty of two to 20 years for each of the class B felonies and is required to pay full restitution to Franklin County.