HOT SPRINGS -- A former assistant to the county judge convicted in 2017 of embezzling county money will not have her probation revoked as prosecutors had sought to do in December.
Kristi Lynn Goss, 46, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court on Sept. 11, 2017, to six felony counts of fraudulent use of a credit card. After waiving her right to a jury trial, she was sentenced Nov. 22, 2017, to 20 years of supervised probation and ordered to pay more than $366,000 in restitution and court costs, at a rate of $300 a month.
Some of the confirmed personal purchases included payments to Entergy for her electric bills and to AT&T for her cellphone bills. She also bought tickets to University of Arkansas Razorbacks games, made car payments, paid her personal real estate taxes, and bought hotel gift cards, a diamond bracelet, sequin throw pillows and a tuxedo for her dog.
The state filed a motion Dec. 30 to have Goss' probation revoked after a violation report filed Dec. 23 alleged Goss "failed to consistently make restitution payments" and "has also not made the full payment of $300."
The report also said she violated a travel condition of her probation when on Dec. 13 she admitted traveling outside Arkansas without permission.
Judge John Homer Wright found after a hearing Monday the state didn't prove Goss willfully failed to pay according to the order of the court, public defender Tim Beckham said Wednesday. Beckham was appointed to represent Goss. Wright did find Goss left the state without permission, Beckham said, but "elected not to revoke her probation."
The state was represented at Monday's hearing by special prosecutor Jack McQuary.
Goss had been employed as an administrative assistant by Garland County since 2004, starting under former County Judge Larry Williams, and was officially terminated June 3, 2016, under the tenure of former County Judge Rick Davis. She reportedly left her position at the end of May 2016 after the fraud allegations came to light.
According to the affidavit filed by the Arkansas State Police, Goss fraudulently charged about $200,000 worth of items to a Garland County credit card obtained in December 2011.
Garland County Comptroller Susan Ashmore discovered the discrepancies in May 2016 after Goss failed to pay county bills on time.
According to her presentencing report, Goss stated one of her jobs was "to write up all the claims to pay bills for several offices within the county" and she noticed how some people "would get by with personal purchases."
She said one day the water got shut off at their home and "she panicked" because she wasn't getting paid for several more days and paid the bill with the county credit card.
Goss stated she realized "how easy it was" and started paying "more and more bills" with county funds. She noted her then-husband had a meth problem, so "all the family bills were on her" and "she was raising five kids and the bills kept piling up." She said that "the stress of supporting her entire household was too much for her."
The case drew national attention after her arrest, and Goss' use of the embezzled money to buy the throw pillows and a tuxedo for her pug were featured in Esquire magazine's January 2018 issue in its "Dubious Achievement Awards for 2017."