Former Ala. bank employee pleads guilty to stealing from 2 non-profits

FAYETTE Co., Ala. (WBRC) - A former Fayette County bank employee pleaded guilty, and was sentenced, to stealing nearly $91,000 from two non-profit organizations.

The 24th Judicial Circuit District Attorney announced Sherrin Leigh Henegar, 47, pleaded guilty to first-degree theft at a hearing before Judge Samuel Junkin Monday.

Prosecutors said Henegar was acting as the treasurer for the Fayette County Band Foundation when she began to transfer the foundation’s money to her accounts for personal use.

She was sentenced Monday to eight years in the Alabama Department of Corrections with three years of supervised probation.

As part of the plea agreement, the eight-year sentence will be suspended. Henegar will be required to serve seven months of confinement in the Fayette County Jail, but could be ordered to serve the full eight years in state prison if she violates any conditions of probation.

Additionally, Henegar was ordered to repay the entire $90,976 stolen from the Fayette Band Foundation and the Jerry Bobo Scholarship Fund. The amount has been paid in full.

Henegar turned herself into the Fayette County Jail on Wednesday to begin serving the jail term.

The thefts were reported to the District Attorney after they were discovered during an internal audit in 2020. Investigators with the District Attorney’s Criminal Investigation Division determined that Henegar transferred $85,777 from holdings of the Fayette Band Foundation, including $5,150 from the Jerry Bobo Scholarship fund.

Investigators said Henegar made more than 90 transactions and distributed the funds into accounts belonging to her and her children.

The scholarship fund is named in memory of Fayette County High School’s former, longtime band director and is awarded to high school seniors who plan to study music education.

“This was a complicated case. Mrs. Henegar had gone to great lengths to conceal the thefts. The bank staff, representatives of the band foundation, along with my office’s investigators did an excellent job in finding and documenting each instance,” said District Attorney Andy Hamlin. “This case was very important to my office and to the generations of people that have poured their heart and soul into making the band foundation a success. I’m glad it was brought to a successful resolution and that the band has been made whole.”