Ex-Dallas County sheriff’s worker admits embezzling more than $250K from inmate fund

Myers was arrested in April 2021 on a state charge of theft of property between $2,500 and $30,000. Later that year, the sheriff’s office confirmed her arrest was in connection with an investigation into a debit-card scheme in which nearly $700,000 was stolen from Dallas County jail inmate commissary accounts, but declined to comment further.

Myers was employed with the Sheriff’s Department for 26 years. From 2018 to March 2021, she worked as a supervisor in the Dallas County jail’s inmate property vault and was in charge of refunding inmates’ commissary funds upon their release, according court documents.

When people are released from the jail, they receive the remaining balance of their account in cash, or on a debit card if it’s more than $30. As a supervisor, Myers had the ability to override debit-card error messages and enter a new amount onto the card, authorities wrote in court documents.

The funds placed on the debit cards were pulled from a Dallas County-controlled inmate fund, authorities said.

Myers used released inmates’ booking numbers and other employees’ login numbers to issue new, working debit cards, authorities said.

Authorities said evidence — including surveillance footage, bank statements, casino records, travel records and Facebook data — showed that Myers created dozens of fraudulent cards for personal use. She then used them in Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada and New York, court documents say.

Myers faces up to 10 years in federal prison. The status of the state’s theft case against her was unclear.