Knox Woman Sentenced to 12 Months For Financial Fraud

SOUTH BEND - Pamela McDonald, 41 years old, of Knox, Starke County, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to wire fraud, announced United States Attorney Adam L. Mildred. McDonald was sentenced to 12 months of probation and ordered to pay $21,280.42 in restitution.

According to documents in the case, Pamela McDonald worked as the "jail matron" at the Starke County Jail. Her duties included paying invoices with funds from the jail commissary account. She devised a scheme to unjustly enrich herself by depositing commissary funds into her personal PayPal account while camouflaging the transfers as payments for legitimate invoices. Between August 15, 2022, and May 15, 2023, McDonald made at least 19 unauthorized withdrawals and pocketed at least $20,621.85 that she was not entitled to receive. She also used a Starke County debit card to purchase a video gaming chair, a memory foam mattress, and a full-size bed frame for her home totaling $658.57, resulting in a total loss to Starke County of $21,280.42.

"Starke County entrusted Pamela McDonald with maintaining the welfare of its prisoners. She took advantage of that trust to steal over $20,000 from the jail and the prisoners, presuming that no one would care about them. She chose to no longer wear the white hat of law enforcement and found out that justice is blind. Fraud is a serious crime warranting a serious response, no matter the identity of the victim. In some ways, her level of corruption is even more troubling because she acted while filling a position of authority in the community. Thanks to the combined efforts of the FBI, Indiana State Police, Indiana State Board of Accounts, Prosecuting Attorney Leslie Baker's team in the Starke County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, and Assistant United States Attorney Jerome W. McKeever, the public can see that public corruption will not be tolerated for their work bringing McDonald to justice," U.S. Attorney Adam Mildred said.

"McDonald was supposed to be a public servant in her role at the Starke County Jail, but she chose to use her position of trust to line her own pockets," said Timothy J. O'Malley, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Indianapolis Office. "The FBI and its law enforcement partners will continue to investigate all public officials who use their positions for personal gain."

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Indiana State Police Organized Crime and Public Corruption Unit, the Indiana State Board of Accounts, and the Starke County Prosecutor's Office. It was prosecuted as part of the Northern District of Indiana's Small County Outreach Program, which aims to bring federal law enforcement resources to bear in rural counties throughout the Northern District of Indiana. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jerome W. McKeever.