By MIKE MORRIS
THE PICKET – A former Shepherd University dean of Student Affairs faces five years probation after her conviction for fraudulent use of state funds.
Elizabeth “Libby” Shanton was sentenced Monday by Judge David H. Sanders of the Jefferson County Circuit Court.
Shanton was convicted last December following a 10-day trial on 15 counts of fraudulent or unauthorized use of a state purchasing card, according to sentencing documents provided by the Circuit Court of Jefferson County.
Shanton spent lavishly on the card the school provided her. According to court documents, she accrued $85,932.67 in fraudulent expenses. Some of her illicit purchases include $647.49 spent at the Coach outlet in Hagerstown, Maryland, in October 2010; $422 spent later that month at a Party City location in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where she purchased “plates, colored cutlery, clear mini tongs, clear plastic tumblers, and various colored hand towels,” and $199 in undisclosed products from a beauty shop in Raeford, North Carolina. Shanton also purchased $350 worth of products such as perfume, cologne and barbecue sauce from a discount outlet in North Carolina.
In addition to her probation, Shanton must pay restitution totaling $6,246.43. She has 30 days to file a notice of intent to appeal the court’s decision, and then four months to file the formal appeal.