Regional Industry & News

Former Spencer city finance assistant to pay over $100,000 in restitution

SPENCER, Iowa (KTIV) - A Northwest Iowa woman has been sentenced to repay over $100,000 after authorities say she stole money while working as a finance assistant.

Lavonne Marie Bell, a 53-year-old resident of Spencer, was sentenced on Tuesday, Sept. 29, for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Spencer while working as a city employee.

She was sentenced in Clay County District Court for theft in the first degree, a Class C felony, and credit card fraud, an aggravated misdemeanor, according to Sioux County Attorney Thomas Kunstle.

Sentencing

The District Court considered 10 impact statements from 10 separate victims, seven of whom presented their statements to the court in person.

The District Court entered convictions against Bell for both theft and credit card fraud. The court sentenced Bell to serve a 10-year prison sentence but suspended it and ordered she successfully complete a term of probation not to exceed three years, along with completing financial counseling classes.

The court further sentenced Bell to serve 365 days in the Clay County Jail, with all but 30 days suspended, with work release permitted by the jail’s rules, to begin Oct. 5, 2026.

Bell was ordered to pay the full restitution amount of $106,098.13.

Sioux County Attorney Thomas Kunstle was appointed special prosecutor for Clay County and prosecuted the case on behalf of the State of Iowa due to a conflict of interest with the Clay County Attorney’s Office.

Case background

The case arose after the Office of the Auditor of State released a report on Feb. 18, 2026, detailing a special investigation that identified Bell had stolen $46,098.13 from the City of Spencer between Jan. 1, 2018, and June 30, 2024, while serving as a city employee as a finance assistant.

On Sept. 28, 2026, Bell pleaded guilty to Theft in the First Degree. The plea was pursuant to a partial plea agreement in which the state recommended that Bell be convicted but that her prison sentence be suspended, and that she also be sentenced to a 30-day jail term for the count of credit card fraud.

Bell, through counsel, requested that judgments be deferred. Both parties stipulated that Bell would be ordered to pay $106,098.13 in restitution to the City of Spencer.

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