Leah Mulholland

Leah Mulholland

The former Webster City Chamber of Commerce administrative assistant and convicted felon entered a written plea of not guilty April 19 to drug charges stemming from an incident in Webster City on March 30.

Police arrested Mulholland on March 31.

Mulholland has been on probation after pleading guilty to stealing from the Chamber of Commerce during her employment there.

The 42-year-old has been charged with possession of a controlled substance first count, and possession of a controlled substance — marijuana — first count, according to Iowa Courts Online. Both are serious misdemeanors.

As a convicted felon, a violation of her probation could mean she would have to serve all or part of her original prison sentence.

In January 2021, the Mulholland was given a 10-year suspended prison sentence, five years probation and a $1,000 fine which was also suspended, on a charge of first-degree theft.

She entered a guilty plea on Dec. 4, 2020 on the theft charge.

Three other charges — ongoing criminal conduct – influence enterprise, forgery and unauthorized use of credit cards over $1,500 and under $10,000 — were dismissed by the court.

She was arrested in February 2020 following a lengthy investigation related to more than $239,586.23 in improper disbursements from the Webster City Chamber of Commerce.

On June 25, 2018, the Webster City Police Department requested the assistance of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations in a financial investigation involving the Chamber and Mulholland.

The office of the Auditor of State conducted an audit for the period of Oct. 1, 2013 through June 30, 2018. The audit report was released July 3, 2019. The audit found 367 checks issued to Mulholland totaling $236,313.03. Of those checks, 139 were payroll checks; four were bonuses and two were reimbursements.

Two-hundred twenty-two were unauthorized checks ranging in amounts of from $20 to $2,000. There were also $23,602.83 of unsupported disbursements, according to the auditor’s report.

Auditors also found 846 debit card transactions; only 107 were properly supported by Chamber records.

Mulholland is scheduled for a pretrial conference June 1.