ESCANABA - A former Escanaba couple, accused of taking the kitchen from their foreclosed home last year, will go to trial next month on charges of embezzlement.
Donald George Smith, 47, and his wife, Sandra Kay Smith, 46, of Round Lake, Ill., are each charged with embezzling mortgaged property valued at $1,000 to $20,000, a five-year felony. Their jury trial is scheduled for Sept. 25-26 in Delta County Circuit Court.
The two were arrested in January following a six-month investigation into allegations they had removed kitchen cabinets and appliances from their home after it was foreclosed in 2011.
According to testimony presented in district court this spring, the Smith home at 528 S. 9th St. in Escanaba was undergoing foreclosure last year and was sold on a sheriff sale in April 2011. Later during the summer, the Smiths allegedly removed the custom kitchen valued at more than $30,000.
The couple remains free on bond. Following their arrests in January, Sandra and Donald Smith each posted a $2,500 cash bond and were allowed to return to their home in Illinois. Sandra Smith's bond was later reduced to a personal recognizance bond which requires no fee. Donald Smith's bond was reduced to $250, 10 percent of $2,500.
In addition to the maximum penalty of five years in prison, the embezzlement charge carries a maximum fine of $10,000 or three times the amount embezzled, whichever is greater.