Wife sentenced to 5 years of probation for check kiting
Published 9:35 am Friday, January 23, 2015
By Matt Hudson, Owatonna People’s Press
OWATONNA — An Ellendale woman received probation for check kiting on Thursday, a day after her husband was sent to prison for arson and insurance fraud.
Sara Ellen Degen-Misgen, 41, was convicted of issuing dishonored checks, a felony.
Sara Degen-Misgen
In a sentencing hearing, District Court Judge Joseph Bueltel ordered five years of probation. He included a stay of imposition, meaning that if Degen-Misgen completes her probation, the charge will be downgraded to a misdemeanor.
In addition, the judge ordered 240 hours of community service.
The sentencing hearing was a day after Degen-Misgen’s husband, Mark Misgen, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison after being convicted of setting fire to his home to collect on insurance claims.
Degen-Misgen was set to stand trial alongside her husband but took a plea deal on the first day of trial. She pleaded guilty to writing multiple checks from one bank account to another without the money to back them. The total amount was $33,000.
At the hearing, Chief Deputy County Attorney Christy Hormann said that the state felt that the recommended probation and community service sentences were fitting for the situation. She added that the offense appeared to be part of the family’s larger financial problems.
“She shouldn’t be completely without some sort of punishment here,” Hormann said.
Court records showed that the Misgen family had around $428,000 in debts in December 2011, when Mark Misgen set fire to his family’s house.
Degen-Misgen’s attorney, Ryan Wood, told the judge that it would be a hardship for a mother of five to take on a large amount of community service. He said that Degen-Misgen is “remorseful” of her actions.
Degen-Misgen gave a brief statement as well. She told the judge that she isn’t managing the family’s businesses anymore and wants to be able to take care of her children. While her husband maintained his innocence the day before, she told the court she’d made a mistake.
“I do acknowledge what I had done,” she said. “I do realize it was wrong.”
As part of her probation, Degen-Misgen can’t take a job or volunteer position that involves direct cash handling or managing of financial accounts. She is also limited to having one checking account at one bank.
