A former internal auditor with the Mississippi State Department of Health in Tallahatchie County has been ordered to pay restitution in an embezzlement case.
During a Feb. 24 hearing before Circuit Judge Jimmy McClure at the Yalobusha County Courthouse in Coffeeville, Natasha Higdon, 48, of 1961 Toole Road, Enid, was directed to repay $1,352.27 to the MSDH in funds she received as a result of filing fraudulent travel vouchers, court records show.
Higdon also was instructed to pay a like amount, $1,352.27, to the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor to recoup investigative costs, plus $441.50 in court costs.
The judge also ordered Higdon placed on probation for five years.
By virtue of McClure’s Order of Non-Adjudication, if Higdon fulfills all terms of her court agreement, the embezzlement charge will be dismissed and her criminal record expunged.
Investigators had charged Higdon with embezzling during the period of Sept. 1, 2019, to Feb. 28, 2020.
In other court news, a Tallahatchie County grand jury impaneled in Charleston recently returned criminal indictments in the 1st Judicial District.
According to records on file Tuesday at the circuit clerk’s office in Charleston, among those indicted were:
» Ashley Sappington, 37, of 410 Brunson St., Charleston, on a charge of possession of meth, .10 grams but less than 2 grams
» Jade Moreland Burt, 49, of 410 Brunson St., Charleston, on a charge of possession of meth, .10 grams but less than 2 grams
» Roger Lynn Little, 64, of 1080 Hollis Dr., Charleston, on a two-count indictment charging possession of meth, 30 grams or more; and possession of a firearm, identified as a Glock 9 mm handgun, by a convicted felon
