Taking it to the Streets

MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Board of Health voted to designate a Howard residence as a public health nuisance since it has been vacant and neglected for several years.

MOUNT VERNON — Have you ever seen a 1911 Knox touring car? Probably not, since only three exist, but you may have seen one cruising around Knox County this week.

LOUDONVILLE — A family tradition continues to march on despite challenges for Johnny Miller who owns his family timber framing business near Loudonville.

MOUNT VERNON — Those who enjoy the delicacy of lamb received a special treat at the fair Wednesday afternoon at the 2011 Lamb Cookoff following the open class sheep show.

MOUNT VERNON — The sheep/hog show arena at the Knox County Fairgrounds was invaded by a vast array of characters Wednesday morning.

MOUNT VERNON — Ray Scoles of Butler took first place for the fastest time around the newly configured rough truck course at the Knox County Fairgrounds on Wednesday night.

MOUNT VERNON — Cami Stidham, who was scheduled for a jury trial Tuesday on an aggravated theft charge, pleaded guilty in the afternoon to a reduced charge of grand theft, a fourth-degree felony. The maximum sentence for grand theft is 18 months in prison and a fine of $5,000.

MOUNT VERNON — As with nearly everything today, the cost of showing an animal at the county fair has gone up.

MOUNT VERNON — When Joshua Scott Jones and Meghan Linsey went to Nashville looking for a start in the country music business, a duo was the last thing on their minds.

MOUNT VERNON — Only a few miles of route walking remain for local mail carrier Jon Minard.

BRINKHAVEN — Brinkhaven residents may be without a post office after a December decision by the U.S. Postal Service.

MOUNT VERNON — After Cami Stidham left the Knox County Common Pleas Courtroom Tuesday, her ex-husband, John Stidham, came into the courtroom along with two other prisoners.

MOUNT VERNON — The quads were noisy. Tempers flared. The crowd cheered for every jump.

Photo by Virgil Shipley

Cami Stidham, left, and her attorney, Harlow Walker, listen as Knox County Common Pleas Court Judge Eyster asks if she understand the charge against her and if she is making her guilty plea to grand theft of her own free will.

By CHUCK MARTIN
News Staff Reporter

MOUNT VERNON — Cami Stidham, scheduled for a jury trial today for an aggravated theft charge, pleaded guilty this afternoon to a reduced charge of grand theft, a fourth-degree felony. The maximum sentence for grand theft is 18 months in prison and a fine of $5,000.

The original charge, a third-degree felony could have resulted in up to five years in prison.

Common Pleas Judge Otho Eyster accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for Aug. 26 at 9 a.m., following a pre-sentence investigation. Her bond was continued until that date.

The prosecution is also asking the court to require restitution in the amount of $180,000, which Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Springer said is the same amount Stidham’s former employer, Tracy and Mills Surveyors, is seeking in a civil suit filed against Stidham.

Springer said she could not be concerned about what happens in a civil case, but it made sense to specify restitution in the same amount the injured party is seeking.

She told Eyster the reason she took the money was because she was the sole provider for her children and that she suffered from depression.

Stidham was indicted in November 2010 after an investigation by Mount Vernon Police Department Detective Craig Feeney into allegations that Stidham stole over $400,000 from her employer Tracy and Mills Surveyors, Mount Vernon.

According to the report, Mills had requested copies of checks made out to Tracy and Mills from ACS Title. Upon review, Mills said he did not see the business’ usual endorsement on the back of the checks. Because the checks were processed through a different bank, Mills followed that lead to a second bank where Mills discovered Stidham had opened an account listed as her doing business as Tracy and Mills Surveyors. A deposit reported Mills received showed about $46,000 was deposited between June 2, 2010 to Oct. 28, 2010.

She opened the account on March 16, 2007, as Cami Sue Stidham DBA Tracy and Mills Surveyors with statements using her home address, according to court documents.

Supplemental investigation documents indicate that Stidham deposited $405,699.03 between 2007 and 2010 with the following breakdown: $102,910 in 2007; $117,720 in 2008; $95,230 in 2009; and $89,839.03 in 2010. Monthly deposits ranged from $2,250 to $12,820.

Cash withdrawals from the account ranged from $60 to $500 and included countless business check card purchases for gasoline, restaurants, grocery stores, wireless phone stores, department and clothing stores and even payments to nail salons and the Lions Den.

Cami’s ex-husband, John Stidham, was charged with complicity for his role in the theft as well as many other theft, receiving stolen property and insurance fraud charges. He received eight years for a guilty plea to those 20 charges.

According to Knox County Common Pleas Court records, a domestic violence civil protection order against John was issued to Cami on Jan. 7, 2002. Just six months later the two were officially divorced. On March 28, 2003, child support and medical expenses were terminated because the two were living in the same household.

MOUNT VERNON —  After Cami Stidham left the Knox County Common Pleas Courtroom today, her ex-husband, John Stidham, came into the courtroom along with two other prisoners. The other two were there to enter pleas, but John was there because of an omission from the sentence handed down last week when he pled guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Raymond Staats of Canton.

The sentence failed to specify that the four-year prison term Eyster imposed was a mandatory term, meaning it would be served “prior to and consecutive with” any other prison terms.

Stidham said he understood the correction and signed the amended papers.

MOUNT VERNON — Dean Shira sat atop the high, red wagon as friends and relatives added a third huge black horse to the hitch for the next event in the open fair Draft Horse Show on Monday at the Knox County Fair.

MOUNT VERNON — It was hot and sticky at the 2011 Knox County Fair on Monday, but people still came out to enjoy the rides, food, exhibits and competitions.

MOUNT VERNON — High temperatures which are expected to rise into the mid-90s again by the end of the week continue to plague Knox County, and the possibility for heat-related illnesses remains equally high.