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The area woman who pleaded guilty to stealing over $200,000 from the Albert Lea Housing and Redevelopment Authority over a 6-1/2-year span is slated to be sentenced Aug. 10 in U.S. District Court.

Marcie Marie Thumann, 45, entered the plea in October 2022 to theft from a program receiving federal funds and admitted to routinely embezzling HRA rent payments for her own personal use and benefit. Court documents stated Thumann pocketed cash payments and altered payee information on payments made by check and money order.

According to court documents filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office last week, the total embezzled equaled $213,217, but there is a possibility the loss was much greater.

U.S. attorneys are asking that the court order Thumann pay full restitution of $213,217 and sentence her to 15 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release.

Thumann’s attorney, Christina Zauhar of Halberg Criminal Defense, is recommending six months of home confinement followed by six months of supervised release, according to documents filed last week.

U.S. attorneys stated Thumann was hired as bookkeeper for the organization in July 2008 and she was solely responsible for recording and reconciling tenant rental payments to the HRA. The organization receives both federal and state funding to remedy the shortage of available housing for low-income residents.

Court documents stated she reportedly began by pocketing tenant cash payments and altering payee information on tenant checks or money orders for her own benefit and then used her access to the HRA’s computer system to manipulate tenant accounts and conceal the money she stole over numerous accounts.

Tenants even occasionally received unexplained letters indicating their rent was past due, which if contested, Thumann would explain as an administrative error. She also eventually wrote off some of the shortfall.

When Thumann resigned from her position in 2018, many of the issues at the organization came to light. An audit revealed unexplainable financial issues, including cash shortfalls, questionable rent reductions, missing receipts and other purchases that had been made.

The U.S. attorneys stated once Thumann left the organization, monthly deposits increased from less than $2,000 a month to more than $18,000 a month. The average cash deposits in her own personal account dropped from between $3,200 a month to about $200 a month after she left the organization.

“Thumann was not battling addiction, unexpected medical bills or other dire financial straits,” the government said. “She instead exploited her access to public funds to satisfy her own subjective needs at the expense of the population she was employed to serve.”

They also argued that her actions were not a one-time mistake but rather she spent years embezzling funds for her own use and then covering her tracks with numerous steps.

They also noted that while she deserves credit for opting to resolve her case, she continues to minimize her actions.

Thumann’s attorney described her as an individual who had endured many losses and other personal trauma, including the loss of a brother as a teenager and breaking her neck in a car crash at age 16. Her first husband also died in a motorcycle crash in 2006, and she struggled for many years after his death as the sole provider of three children. Their home was destroyed by fire in 2008 because of an oven malfunction.

In 2015, she remarried and gained four stepchildren.

The attorney stated the first time Thumann stole from the HRA was around the time one of her sons turned 16 years old. She had reportedly promised her late husband that she would purchase the first vehicle for each of their children. Soon after, she was behind on the payments and stole money orders from the HRA to catch up.

As she continued to raise three children on her own, she would write checks to herself to stay on top of her mortgage payments and expenses. She was also found to have utilized the Minnesota Revenue Recapture program 244 times to obtain individual tax refunds of tenants receiving housing assistance and ordered items purchased with HRA funds, including school supplies and phone accessories, and had them sent to her house.

“She has acknowledged the harm she caused, expressed significant remorse and accepted responsibility for her wrongdoing,” the attorney wrote.

While she does not argue the crime was insignificant, her lawyer stated the work environment at the HRA “was incredibly anxiety provoking and traumatic,” and alleged that others who worked there also inappropriately used HRA funds.

“The culture of the HRA during Ms. Thumann’s tenure was one that encouraged illegal and antisocial behavior,” she continued. “… While none of these facts excuse Ms. Thumann’s theft, they do provide context as to the culture of the organization, and the ways in which Ms. Thumann justified her behavior while she was working there.”

The attorney stated if Thumann is placed on home confinement, she will be subject to stringent supervisory conditions that would deter any sort of similar conduct and said it would be sufficient to protect the public from any further crimes. A prison sentence, on the other hand, may result in the failure of her family’s business and result in the inability to pay restitution.

Check the Tribune for the results of the sentencing Aug. 10.