PIERRE, (KCCR) — Two former state employees charged in connection to fraud cases being investigated by the South Dakota Attorney General’s office had appearances in Hughes County Tuesday. Fifty-five year old Renee Strong of Springfield pleaded not guilty to 26 charges against her. She is facing 13 counts of Offering False or Forged Instruments for Filing or Recording in a Public Office and 13 for Forgery. The first charge is a Class Six felony with the second a Class Five felony. Meanwhile a jury trial has been set for 55 year-old Danielle Denegenstein. Her trial is tentatively set for late June in Pierre. Degenstein is charged with Misprision of a Felony, which means she knew of a crime happening, but failed to report it. Misprision of a Felony is a Class One misdemeanor, carrying a penalty of a year in jail and/or a two-thousand dollar fine. Strong is facing up to 90 years in prison, if convicted. Degenstein’s case is connected to the recently completed case of 64-year-old Lynn Hunsley. Hunsley, in a plea deal, was sentenced to probation for three years with three years of prison suspended.
