Former Fort Worth crime official pleads guilty in Colorado embezzling case

A former executive director fired by Fort Worth in October 2004 over alleged misspending in the city’s Crime Prevention Resource Center pleaded guilty Thursday to embezzling money from a Colorado ranch.

Elizabeth Carmichael, who previously went by the last names of Faeth and Smith, pleaded guilty to criminal attempt to commit theft between $1,000 and $20,000.

Formal sentencing is set for May 19, but terms of the plea offer include that she serve five years of supervised probation, pay $120,000 in restitution to the former owners of Bear Mountain Ranch and complete 400 hours of community service, confirmed Donna Zulian, a spokeswoman for the 14th Judicial District Attorney’s office.

The judge could also sentence Carmichael, who now lives in Lubbock, to up to 90 days in jail, Zulian said.

Carmichael, 48, was accused of stealing $451,755 from the Bear Mountain Ranch, where she worked as a bookkeeper and manager from 2009 to 2012.

The 10,000-acre ranch, located in the Rocky Mountains of northwestern Colorado, offered hunting excursions and vacation lodging.

Reached by telephone Friday, Carmichael referred questions to her defense attorney, Chris Hammond of Steamboat Springs, Colo.

Hammond said Friday that Carmichael “feels terrible” for what happened and is “relieved that this ordeal is finally behind her.”

“She’s looking forward to spending time with her family,” Hammond said.

Hammond said Carmichael has been unemployed since being fired last year from a healthcare company after the Star-Telegram ran an article about her case and past troubles in Fort Worth.

Carmichael had served as executive director of Fort Worth’s Crime Prevention Resource Center (CPRC) until being fired in 2004 after an internal investigation found that she had charged up to $15,000 on an agency credit card for personal items like clothing and alcohol.

At the time, CPRC administered Fort Worth’s Safe City Program, Project Safe Neighborhood and the Crime Stoppers program and received funding from the city’s general fund and Crime Control and Prevention District.

Her then attorney, Art Brender, had argued that the expenditures were known about and approved by the CPRC’s board.

The scandal prompted two executive committee members to step down and later resign from the agency’s board of directors and the CPRC to eventually shut down.

This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Former Fort Worth crime official pleads guilty in Colorado embezzling case."