Former County court reporter manager Lisa Roeser was arrested last Friday, accused of grand theft and official misconduct. Although the warrant for her arrest had been issued on July 19 and widely reported in the press, the State Attorney's Office apparently allowed Roeser to turn herself in at her convenience. She did that at 1:30 p.m. on July 21. She signed a statement swearing that she is indigent and requested a Public Defender. She was released on her own recognizance.
Following the publication of an investigative report by writer Katha Sheehan in Key West The Newspaper on Sept. 10 of last year (Former Court Reporters Say Judges Ignored Double-Dipping Charges), Court Clerk Danny Kolhage launched an audit of time sheets and other records associated with the staff of County-paid court reporters. That audit was completed last month.
Among the findings was that Roeser had apparently "double-dipped"— been paid by both the County and private sources for the same time on 35 different occasions between May 10, 1996, and Dec. 12, 1999.
"Court reporters were allowed to take time off to earn additional money by completing outside work," wrote State Attorney Investigator Kirby Owen in the arrest affidavit. "However, they were not allowed to be paid a salary from the County and earn money from outside sources at the same time."
The total amount of money that Roeser allegedly double-dipped from County funds was only $1,032.68. But that is "grand theft" because it's more than $300.
Roeser was also charged with official misconduct because, while she was a County employee, she also operated her own court reporting business— and she allegedly used her County telephone and fax numbers in ads promoting that business.
As early as 1998, two of Roeser's subordinates, Kathi Fegers and Rex Lear, wrote separate letters to then-Chief Judge Sandra Taylor blowing the whistle on Roeser. Copies of the letters were also sent to all the other judges.
Lear sent his letter in January 1998. Fegers' letter was dated in October 1998. None of the judges responded or reacted to either of those letters.
Judge Taylor would later say that she took no action because she considered the allegations too general. Court Administrator Theresa Westerfield, responding to Kolhage's audit report last month, said she was unaware of any double-dipping— although she signed Roeser's timesheets.
EDITOR'S NOTE: You may recall that it was Westerfield— reportedly one of Sandra Estenoz' best friends— who "forgot" that she had Estenoz' resume in her desk drawer when a Pre-Trial Services job opened up in 1998. If you don't recall the famous mystery election flyer/Sandra Estenoz scandal, you haven't been here long enough.
Fegers and Lear say that when Roeser learned that they had complained about her to the judges, she bragged that nobody would believe them because she had Westerfield and Judge Taylor "wrapped around her finger."
When the State Attorney's Office issued the warrant for Roeser's arrest last week, no Key West Judge would sign it. It had to be driven up to the Plantation Key Government Center to be signed by visiting judge Thomas Spencer.