Iowa Woman Pleads Not Guilty To Aggravated Grand Theft Charges In Department Of Social Services Theft Case

PIERRE, (KCCR) — An Iowa woman facing two charges in South Dakota has pleaded not guilty in a Hughes County courtroom to those charges. Sixty-eight year-old Lonna Carroll was arraigned on two felony counts of Aggravated Grand Theft Tuesday morning in Pierre. The South Dakota Attorney General’s office is accusing Carrol with stealing one-point-eight million dollars in state and federal funds intended for South Dakota’s Child Protective Services program between 2010 and 2023. Attorney General Marty Jackley says Carroll had control of the funds she’s accused of stealing as an employee of the Department of Social Services and resident of Pierre during the alleged time the money was being taken. A trial date for Carroll has been set for December 4th of this year. Carroll is facing the possibility of 35 years in prison if convicted and 80-thousand dollars in fines. Carroll remains in the Hughes County Jail, being held on a 50-thousand dollars cash or surety bond.