Former Garwin city clerk will serve two years in federal prison

A former Garwin city clerk who stole more than $470,000 from the city over 16 years has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison.

Anna Leytham, of Garwin, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of theft of public money. In a plea agreement, Leytham said she admitted that her position of public trust enabled her to commit and conceal the crime. She handled most of the financial transactions, such as payroll, made bank deposits and collected and posted accounting records.

During Monday's sentencing, she admitted to stealing more than $470,000 from the city. That included $397,601 that she used to pay her personal credit cards. Garwin, in Tama County, has a population of 525.

She also agreed she owes over $485,000 in restitution, which includes costs the city incurred to conduct the audit that discovered her crime.

'Betraying the public's trust and wasting tax dollars is a crime we take very seriously,” U.S. Attorney Kevin Techau said in a statement. 'Those who choose to ignore federal law will be held accountable, just as this sentence holds Ms. Leytham accountable.”

Leytham, who resigned from the clerk's position April 30, 2014, embezzled at least $70,000 between January 2001 and October 2013, according to a plea agreement. During a one-year period beginning Nov. 1, 2010, the city received benefits of over $10,000 from a Community Development Block Grant and during this time, Leytham stole at least $5,000 of the total amount she embezzled.

The case was initially investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation following a special investigation by the Iowa State Auditor's Office, which found Leytham embezzled $562,089 from 1998 until she resigned in 2014.

Federal authorities are holding her responsible for the $485,000, based on the plea agreement.

According to the state audit, 203 improper checks or undocumented payments were traced back to Leytham's accounts. Leytham had several different credit card accounts.

Of the improper payments from the city, more than $66,000 were in cash advances, more than $11,000 from retail and clothing stores, more than $8,000 to bookstores at Marshalltown Community College, Northwest Iowa Community College and Wartburg College, more than $5,000 to NutriSystems, more than $2,200 from restaurants and retail stores in Hawaii in September 2013, and more than $2,000 for plastic surgery.

Leytham also issued $145,224 payments to herself, according to the investigation. She gave herself checks totaling $68,419 in addition to payroll checks. And Leytham's payroll checks included over time hours, which totaled $71,365.

The audit also showed $6,325 went to Leytham's husband and to vendors for personal purchases, not for city business.