FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
February 1, 2019
For More Information, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Steve Marshall
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Page 1 of 1
Alabama Attorney General
Attorney General Steve Marshall Announces Conviction of Former
Department of Public Health Employee Convicted of Stealing from Agency
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the conviction of a
former employee of the Alabama Department of Public Health for stealing more than
$18,000 from that agency. Crystal Laschell Fountain, 45, of Montgomery, pleaded guilty
yesterday to first-degree theft of property. She was sentenced in Montgomery County
Circuit Court to two years imprisonment and was ordered to pay full restitution.
Fountain, a former administrative support assistant with the Alabama Department of
Public Health, stole the money over a five-year period during her employment with the
agency. She worked for the Office of Emergency Medical Services division of the
Alabama Department of Public Health between February 2012 and July 2017, where she
was responsible for collecting emergency personnel application fees. One month after
she began work, she began pocketing some of the cash emergency personnel
application fees. An audit found that over five years, Fountain stole $18,398.30.
Fountain has since resigned and must repay the entire amount. Fountain’s sentence
will be suspended, and she will be placed on two years’ probation to allow her to pay
full restitution and all associated court costs and fees.
“The people of Alabama deserve to have confidence that taxpayers’ money will be used
for its proper public purpose,” said Attorney General Marshall. “I am pleased that this
defendant has been held to account and will be punished for abusing her position and
betraying the public trust. Our citizens may be assured that, while most government
employees are honest and dedicated public servants, those who commit violations will
be prosecuted.”
Attorney General Marshall thanked the Department of Public Health for its
investigative assistance in this case. He commended Assistant Attorney General Jasper
Roberts and Peggy Rossmanith as well as Special Agents of the Attorney General’s
Special Prosecutions Division, for their outstanding work to achieve this conviction.
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501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us
