Former Christian County Assessor Sandra Bryant-Littles was sentenced March 22 to federal prison time and to pay an order of restitution. Her husband, Lonnie Littles, also was sentenced in a separate but related case, according to a news release from Beth Phillips, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Bryant-Littles, 51, of Clever, was sentenced to four months in federal prison without parole and ordered to pay $2,080 in restitution costs to Christian County. Lonnie Littles, 63, also of Clever, was sentenced to 15 months in prison without parole.
When the couple pleaded guilty in November, it was speculated that Bryant-Littles could receive 80 years in prison with up to a $1 million fine, wile her husband could be sentenced to up to 130 years in jail and a fine of up to $3.5 million, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
In November, Bryant-Littles pleaded guilty to four counts of mail fraud in which she didn't assess herself for personal property taxes, while Lonnie Littles pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, two counts of bank fraud and two counts of wire fraud.
Bryant-Littles and her husband owned Poco Cala Ranch and personal property under their names from Dec. 31, 2006, to Feb. 19, 2009. For the years 2007 and 2008, Bryant-Littles admitted she submitted property tax bills which she knew understated the tax owed. She also failed to report personal property tax on a motorcycle, two tractors, three utility and flat-bed trailers, a horse trailer and an unknown number of cattle.
Lonnie Littles was sentenced for a
crime related to cattle on the ranch, in which he sold 53 head of cattle and falsely reported them stolen.
Bryant-Littles' fraud was discovered when officers were investigating the false cattle theft claim by her husband. She was arrested at her county office Oct. 15, 2009.
The two cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Mohlhenrich and were investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Investigative Unit, the Missouri State Highway Patrol Rural Crimes Unit and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.
Jesse Rice, 57, of Clever, who was involved in the cattle theft scheme, pleaded guilty in February 2010 and waits to be sentenced on March 29.[[In-content Ad]]
