An arrest warrant was issued May 17 for a Wichita County employee accused of theft by embezzlement of over $30,000 from a business not related to the county.

Jessica Payne Winkler, 41, was booked and released from the Wichita County Jail on a $30,000 bond for theft valued at more than $30,000 but less than $150,000 – a third-degree felony.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit:

On January 29, the Wichita Falls Police Department received a report of an embezzlement-type theft at the Saf-T-Loc business, 3224 Seymour Hwy.

An operational manager for the business reported an internal audit showed two employees were stealing money from a business account.

Winkler's accomplice, Mark Alden Lancaster, was a manager and had been employed with Saf-T-Loc since 2015.

A recent review of financial records showed Lancaster was making unauthorized transactions with the business account, including writing checks to himself and making cash withdrawals.

It was also determined that Lancaster, 41, was writing unauthorized checks to one of the business' part-time employees, Winkler.

When confronted by the business owner and property managers, Lancaster admitted to writing checks to himself and making cash withdrawals from the business account.

He also admitted to writing unauthorized checks and providing money to Winkler.

Lancaster provided a written confession to the business owner regarding his actions.

When interviewed by Wichita Falls detectives on May 1, Lancaster again admitted to being involved in a pattern of theft from the business.

When confronted by the owner and property managers, Winkler admitted to being involved in the theft, saying Lancaster wrote her checks and provided her with money she did not earn from the business.

Lancaster reported that he began writing checks to Winkler after she asked him for money.

He stated there was a romantic interest between himself and Winkler which, he says, led him to giving her the money.

Winkler told police during an interview on May 14 that she began receiving checks from Lancaster after she asked him for some money to pay off a loan.

She admitted that she knew the checks were unauthorized, but continued to cash them and keep the money.

Winkler said she knew Lancaster was romantically interested in her and he would continue providing her with checks if she asked him.

The total amount of unauthorized transactions committed by Lancaster from the Saf-T-Loc business account between September 1, 2015, and January 25, 2018, was $57,720.35.

Lancaster was charged with theft by embezzlement of more than $30,000 but less than $150,000. He was booked into the Wichita County Jail Tuesday afternoon. His bail had not been set by 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The total amount of unauthorized checks received and cashed by Winkler from the Saf-T-Loc business account between August 1, 2016, through January 25, 2018, was $30,450.08.

Wichita County Judge Woody Gossom confirmed that Winkler was a Wichita County employee with the auditor’s office.

He said after the theft was reported, the auditor’s office completed a thorough investigation into county financial dealings that Winkler had access to and found nothing amiss.

Gossom said Auditor Deb Stevens had not yet spoken with Winkler about the situation, but felt appropriate human resources action would be taken.