The former office manager of the Seminole County Jail accused of stealing over $180,000 from a kiosk at the facility over a nearly five-year period has pleaded guilty.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced Tuesday that 47-year-old Megan Renee Burgess of Wewoka entered a guilty plea to one count of Theft in Indian Country, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The indictment alleged that beginning in January 2017 and continuing until about November 7, 2022, Burgess “did take, and carry away with intent to steal and purloin, the personal property of another, specifically, United States currency exceeding $1,000 in value.”

Financial misgivings at the Seminole County Jail were uncovered in February 2024 in a forensic audit conducted by State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd. According to the audit, $187,340 collected by Burgess over several years went missing. The source of the money was a kiosk at which family and friends of county inmates could deposit cash for inmates to use in the commissary. Burgess was the only employee with a key to the kiosk.

“Burgess was removed from office during our investigation and the money was never recovered,” Byrd said in 2024. “In addition to the missing $187,340, profits earned from the commissary were not deposited into the correct account. As a result, the sheriff (Shannon Smith, who resigned in 2023) incurred finance charges of $15,826 because invoices were not paid on time. This was a complete waste of money which the taxpayers will never get back.”

Because Burgess is a member of the Seminole Nation, her case was referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Per the United States Supreme Court’s “McGirt” decision, states do not have the authority to prosecute certain crimes involving Native Americans and tribal lands.

The Honorable Gerald L. Jackson, Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.

A U.S. District Court Judge will determine the sentence to be imposed after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Burgess was released on bond pending sentencing.