ATHENS - On Friday, December 5, 2008, Agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in Athens arrested former Madison County Deputy Clerk Melinda Watson Spence charging her with one felony count of Theft by Taking in excess of $80,000.00 of Madison County Government funds.  Spence, age 40, was arrested and booked in the Madison County Jail.

These charges are in connection with a former arrest on Tuesday, April 29, 2008, where she was arrested for one felony count of Theft by Taking. 

These arrests were the result of an initial investigation into approximately $1,700.00 of missing Senior Citizens Center funds that were transported to the Madison County Government Complex but never deposited.

Madison County Sheriff Clayton Lowe requested the Georgia Bureau of Investigation conduct an investigation into the missing funds in March of 2008 when it was discovered the funds were never deposited.

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Contact Information:

SAC Jim Fullington - (706) 542-7901; Madison County Sheriff Clayton Lowe - (706)795-6202