Ash Grove woman pleads guilty to money laundering

An Ash Grove woman pleaded guilty to using money taken fraudulently from the city of Nixa to purchase four Labrador retrievers and a dog trailer, which were then sold to pay her husband's bail in a related case.

Paula Covington admitted that she used money from a scheme to defraud Nixa to purchase the American Kennel Club-registered dogs, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri.

When David Griggs, a former utility worker for the city of Nixa and coworker with her husband, Larry Covington, was arrested for defrauding the city of more than $750,000, Covington had three of the dogs sold. The proceeds from those sales were then moved through a series of bank accounts and eventually used to purchase two cashier's checks totaling $10,636, which were used to post Griggs' bond.

Griggs pleaded guilty in August 2009 to multiple counts of mail fraud and money laundering.

Covington admitted that the money was obtained from the fraud and that the transfer of the money through various banks was designed to hide the illegal source of the funds.

Under the terms of her plea agreement, according to the release, Covington and the government agree to a sentence of one year plus one day.[[In-content Ad]]