Former humane society president gets 8 yrs. probation for theft, must pay back $60,000

The former president of the Humane Society of Dickson County was ordered to repay $60,000 and placed on probation for eight years after pleading guilty Wednesday to a theft charge. Under a plea bargain agreement, 46-year-old Melissa Lee Standley of Hortense Road in Dickson will pay $60,000 in restitution to the humane society on a schedule of payments every six months through 2015. In Dickson County Circuit Court Wednesday morning, Judge Robert Burch asked Standley if she was sure she would be able to maintain the proposed restitution schedule, saying failure to do so would result in a violation of her probation and she would be back in court. “You pay this restitution before you eat,” Burch warned Standley. She was indicted in August for stealing $78,691.87 from the humane society between Jan. 1, 2009, and April 4, 2012, when she resigned as president of the board of directors. While an audit and TBI investigation revealed more than $78,000 missing, Assistant District Attorney Ray Crouch said investigators could only prove that she stole $60,000 and the remaining funds were in question whether she was authorized for part of that use. Standley was sentenced to eight years in prison, which was suspended and she was placed on probation for that period, ordered to pay a $50 fine and court costs and the restitution schedule was made a condition of her probation. Under the agreement, Standley must make a $5,000 payment by June 1, $10,000 payments by Dec. 1, June 1 and Dec. 1, 2014, and June 1, 2015, and a final $15,000 payment by Dec. 1, 2015. The Humane Society of Dickson County has since named a new board and officers and instituted new policies regarding the spending of funds. The board recently hired Billy Higgins as the shelter’s first full-time director in five years.