UPDATE: Cherokee Court Reporters Charged With Theft, Racketeering

UPDATE at 9:01 p.m.: The third court reporter, Tammy Stine, 55, of Woodstock, turned herself in Monday afternoon, Cherokee Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lt. Jay Baker.

She has been charged with theft by taking, theft by deception, giving false statements and racketeering. Her bond has been set at $253,827 and she remains in custody at the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center.

ORIGINAL STORY

Three Cherokee County court reporters have been charged with intentionally mis-formatting court transcripts to bill the county for hundreds of thousands over the course of nearly a decade.

Woodstock residents Betty Petersen, 73, and Kimberly Probst, 50, turned themselves into the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center on Sunday on charges of theft by taking, theft by deception, giving false statements and racketeering, said Cherokee Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lt. Jay Baker.

A third reporter, whose name has not been released, is expected to turn herself in today, Baker added.

Petersen was released yesterday by a magistrate’s order and Probst remains in custody with an $183,939 bond.

The investigation began in mid-July after Shannon Wallace, the district attorney for the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit, asked the sheriff’s office to look into possible court reporter billing irregularities.

Investigators with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office determined that the suspects were “intentionally mis-formatting court records and were billing the county for pages that did not exist,“ Baker stated. Baker added the alleged thefts discovered date as far back as 2006.

Court reporting transcripts are regulated by law. Investigators have charged Probst with a combined theft of $59,821, Petersen with $79,229 and the third suspect with $346,676.

(Photo: Court reporters Kimberly Probst, 50, Betty Petersen, 73, and Tammy Stine, 55, all of Woodstock, turned themselves in to the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center. Credit: Cherokee Sheriff’s Office)