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November 13, 2009

DA: Officer stole from co-workers’ purses

Hundreds of dollars eventually went missing

Ellis Goodwin

Grady County authorities said an Oklahoma parole officer has been charged with a felony after she was caught on tape stealing from coworkers.

In the video, 32-year-old Leticia Green, a parole officer with the Grady County Pardon and Parole Board, came into focus, walked around a desk, and stole $10 from a co-worker's purse, District Attorney Bret Burns said.

Green now faces a felony charge of concealing stolen property and a misdemeanor charge of larceny. If convicted, she could spend up to five years in jail for the felony and six months for the misdemeanor.

Green will appear in court Dec. 16.

Burns said he offered Green a plea deal, which she declined. Burns would have thrown out the felony charge of concealing stolen property if Green pleaded guilty, turned in her badge and gun, and spent 30 days in jail.

For several weeks in October, employees at the Grady County Pardon and Parole Board noticed money missing from their purses, Burns said. Eventually several hundred dollars was reported missing.

At first the victim and her coworkers did not believe someone was stealing. To prove that nobody was a thief, Burns had investigator Dusty Dowdle rig a hidden camera and photocopy some money.

"To humor her, we copied a bill, put it back in her purse and put a camera in there," Burns said. "Within 20 minutes, Leticia goes in there and steals it from her purse. What are the odds of that?"

Dowdle confronted Green later that day. At first Green did not admit to stealing the money, but when Dowdle asked her what was in her back pocket, she broke down.

Green admitted to stealing the money and resigned.

"She is sworn to uphold the law," Burns said. "It's offensive to me that one police officer would steal from another while on duty. It's really a negative reflection on her morals and her character, and people like that don't really need to be police officers."

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