MOUNT VERNON — The former Mount Vernon Municipal Court clerk who pleaded guilty in October to stealing over $7,000 from the court in 2018 and attempting to hide the evidence was sentenced on Thursday in the Knox County Court of Common Pleas.
Judge Richard Wetzel ordered Stephanie Hardman, 45, to serve 150 days in the Knox County Jail, beginning Dec. 1. He also ordered her to serve two years of community control (start date unspecified) and to repay the full amount she admitted to stealing from the court: $7,476.50.
“You held a position of trust in this community. …” Wetzel told Hardman before announcing the sentence to a packed courtroom. “And you used that position of trust to commit a crime.”
Hardman pleaded guilty Oct. 7 to two fourth-degree felony counts – theft-in-office and tampering with evidence – which stemmed from a 2019 investigation by the Ohio Auditor of State’s Office that alleged she had stolen over $7,000 from the court the year prior and had attempted to tamper with records related to the theft.
She faced six to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine on both counts, along with restitution costs.
Wetzel said Thursday he received 20 letters of support from Hardman’s friends and family in the month since the guilty plea hearing. He also said he reviewed the pre-sentence investigation completed by Hardman.
Both attorneys issued a joint recommendation to Wetzel on Thursday, asking he not impose prison or jail time, and instead opt for non-residential community control. Hardman issued an emotional plea for leniency, speaking for the first time publicly since the allegations dropped.
She told Wetzel that she was experiencing “financial hardship” in 2018, and she felt “helpless,” unable to tell even family members what she was going through.
“I felt ashamed, embarrassed. …” Hardman said through tears. “I did not know where to turn, so I stole from the court and I attempted to hide the evidence.”
She apologized to “the hard-working people of Knox County,” the court, her staff, and “the whole Knox County judicial system” for her actions. She said her family has been impacted the most by her conduct, and told Wetzel that if she was put behind bars, they would only suffer more.
“It’s been a trying time for everyone involved. …” Hardman said. “I’m just truly sorry for what I’ve done. Truly sorry.”
Wetzel said that community control would be “consistent with the principles of sentencing in this case.” However, he called this case “extraordinary,” given the circumstances.
“You committed these crimes as a public official,” Wetzel said, “and you used your public office to commit these crimes.”
The money Hardman stole was money the court collected through fines, bonds and fees, Wetzel added. It was public money, stolen for private use. Wetzel said this violated the public’s trust, and it led to his decision to impose jail time – along with community control and restitution.
Thomas Anger, who prosecuted the case on behalf of the Special Investigations Unit within the Ohio Auditor of State’s Office, said afterwards he was pleased with the outcome of the case.
“I think it was a fair sentence,” Anger said. “The judge took into account the mitigation, the aggravation, and I’m glad that he took into account the fact that she was a public servant, and all of us public servants have a responsibility to the public that we serve.
“And to steal people’s money – hard-earned money – that they thought they were paying into a system that was going to go to (the court), and have it go to her instead, I think it hopefully sends a bit of a message to others that there are consequences for that.”
Bradley Koffel, a Columbus-based attorney representing Hardman, said he felt the case’s outcome was largely inevitable, despite mitigating factors.
“We knew Stephanie was going to get jail,” Koffel said. “We’ve been realistic the whole time. The judge had to balance the fact that she was a public official against the fact that she has no record, and the amount of the loss was quite low, and the auditor’s office was recommending no jail.”
Thursday’s sentencing marked the end of a 14-month legal process that began in August 2020, when a Knox County grand jury indicted Hardman on eight felony counts related to the investigation: theft-in-office, telecommunications fraud, three counts of tampering with records and three counts of money laundering. All were listed as third-degree felonies.
Hardman pleaded not guilty shortly thereafter, and she was issued a personal recognizance bond by Wetzel. Five scheduled jury trials were postponed over the next year, until Aug. 31, 2021, when both parties filed a joint motion to change the upcoming jury trial date to a plea date.
Anger said in October that both parties were able to reach a plea agreement in an effort to “preserve judicial resources.” Hardman agreed to plead guilty to lesser versions of two felony counts (lowered from F3s to F4s), and in return, Anger agreed to drop the other six.
“The reason that this case reached a plea agreement was the same reason that all of them do – to preserve judicial resources and give everyone an opportunity to air their grievances or give the victims a time to talk, the defendant a time to talk – but conserve judicial resources (and) get to the same place we probably would have been at after a trial,” Anger said.
Hardman became the city’s clerk of courts on Nov. 25, 2015. Mount Vernon Municipal Court Judge John Thatcher told the Mount Vernon News in November 2019 that he became aware of allegations of theft within the court on Dec. 17, 2018, when they were brought to his attention by City Law Director Rob Broeren and then-Police Chief Roger Monroe.
Broeren and Monroe reported a court employee had made allegations that another employee was stealing from the clerk’s office.
Thatcher said he called the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation that day to report the allegations and request an independent investigation. The BCI turned its investigation over to the state auditor’s office in February 2019, and it remained active for several months, as records were seized and evidence was collected.
A city audit, completed by the accounting firm Wilson, Shannon & Snow, discovered $7,749.05 was unaccounted for during 2018.
Thatcher terminated Hardman’s employment on Feb. 7, 2020. He declined to explain why at the time, although Koffel told the Mount Vernon News that Thatcher “told (Hardman) that it has been 14 months and she cannot tell him where the missing money is … and he lost confidence in the fiscal management of the clerk’s office.”
Hardman, who is listed as living in Lewis Center, began working at Delaware Municipal Court after her termination in Mount Vernon. She was serving as the deputy clerk of courts on the day of her indictment six months later, according to ABC6.
The next day, she requested a three-month unpaid leave of absence, Delaware Clerk of Courts Cindy Dinovo told Knox Pages in October.
“(Hardman) did not return to work,” Dinovo said, “and is no longer employed by this office.”
Mount Vernon Municipal Court Deputy Clerk Pam Fuller spoke during the Oct. 7 guilty plea hearing about what it was like to work in the clerk’s office during Hardman’s tenure. She described the workplace as disorganized and chaotic, and said Hardman kept her employees in “a constant state of fear.”
“The office that I worked in for 15 years turned into a nightmare,” Fuller told the court.
Fuller called Hardman “a bully, a liar and a thief,” and called her actions premeditated. She said Hardman told employees to lie to defendants, which “turned the trust of the public against us.”
“Stephanie Hardman knew what she was doing from the day she got here,” Fuller said. “She changed everything in our office.”
Thatcher brought on Mary Jo Hawkins as the interim clerk of courts following Hardman’s dismissal. Hawkins had spent 20 years as the county’s clerk of courts, having retired Aug. 31, 2019.
Lisa Mazza was later selected to be Hardman’s permanent replacement, and currently serves as the clerk of Mount Vernon Municipal Court.
