Ex-employee who used county credit card to buy dog tuxedo pleads guilty

Sept. 14 (UPI) -- A former county employee in Arkansas pleaded guilty to fraud after using a government credit card for personal purchases, including a tuxedo for her dog.

Kristi Lyn Goss, 44, who was arrested in October 2016 on allegations of using a Garland County government credit card to make nearly $200,000 worth of personal purchases while working as an administrative assistant to Judge Rick Davis, pleaded guilty Monday in Garland County Court to six fraudulent uses of the card, the Sentinel-Record reported.

Goss had been scheduled to go on trial Tuesday on the six fraud charges, which include two counts involving amounts more than $25,000, which bear a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and four counts involving amounts more than $5,000, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Investigators said the purchases Goss illegally made with the county card included personal bill payments, nearly $1,000 worth of Arkansas Razorbacks tickets, a diamond bracelet, clothing, school lunches for her children, pet insurance and a tuxedo for her pug that she purchased from Amazon.

Goss' sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 22.