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February 8, 2010

Ex-shelter president sentenced

Former Knox-Whitley officer receives four years unsupervised probation for felony forgery

By Becky Manley / Staff Writer

The former Knox-Whitley Animal Shelter president who pleaded guilty to felony forgery was sentenced Friday to four years unsupervised probation.

The sentence was handed to Debra Anne Callahan-Wright, 49, of London, by Whitley Circuit Court Judge Daniel Ballou.

During a November court appearance, Callahan-Wright pleaded guilty to the forgery charge as part of a plea agreement that cited the legal case of North Carolina vs. Alford, meaning she maintained her innocence while conceding sufficient evidence existed for a conviction.

Before she was sentenced Friday, Callahan-Wright asked to withdraw her guilty plea.

Callahan-Wright said she could prove her innocence at trial and said she didn’t have sufficient time to consider the agreement before changing her plea in November.

“Last time was very emotional and distressful,” Callahan-Wright said.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble argued against allowing Callahan-Wright to withdraw her guilty plea, saying there had been no change in circumstances since November.

“Your Honor, we can show she consistently shorted deposits,” Trimble said.

Ballou then denied Callahan-Wright’s request and handed her the four year probated sentence and ordered her to pay $188 in restitution.

Callahan-Wright was indicted in Aug. 2008 on charges of second-degree forgery, theft by failure to make required disposition of property over $300 and tampering with physical evidence, according to court documents.

Court documents said Wright wrote a check payable to “cash” from the Knox-Whitley Animal Shelter account and that she tried to file an unemployment claim for her husband, Frank Wright, 59, though he never was a shelter employee.

Frank Wright, who pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement to a charge of criminal facilitation to forgery, was sentenced during a November court appearance to two year’s probation.

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