By Amanda Manchester
Uinta County Herald
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

EVANSTON — A Mountain View woman has pleaded guilty to felony theft after embezzling thousands of dollars from the Valley Learning Center.

Jamie Allyn, 40, appeared in the Third District Court on Dec. 18 to change her plea after initially pleading not guilty last August. The state offered Allyn a sentence of three to seven years behind bars, though recommended the suspension of the sentence in favor of three years of probation.

Allyn was employed as the VLC office manager for two and a half years at the time of her arrest last summer after law enforcement was tipped off to suspicious and potentially fraudulent credit card activity.

An investigation discovered that Allyn had used more than $62,000 from the center to make a down payment on a new vehicle, pay personal bills and living expenses, make purchases and take vacations.

The misappropriated funds reportedly came from property taxes, the mill levy, Uinta County School District #4 and ongoing grant-funding efforts. In particular, the funds were allocated for Mountain View High School students to take Western Wyoming Community College classes and for residents of all ages to access GED coursework and testing. 

According to court documents, an employee from Bridger Valley Electric confirmed to police that “ten payments were [made] with VLC’s credit card to pay Allyn’s electric bills [between] April 30, 2024 and January 31, 2025.” 

The discovery was made via Allyn’s customer account number which correlated to her home address in Mountain View. Charges to the electric company totaled $852.32 and “these transactions were not authorized by VLC.” 

Allyn used the VLC credit card “for town utility bills for several months,” and “did so over a couple of years’ time.” The Town of Mountain View received 21 payments from Allyn totaling $3,3739.56.

“Allyn admitted to paying her gas bill with the VLC credit card,” court documents state. Over the first half of 2024, five payments totaling $1,105.26 were made to Dominion (now Enbridge).

She also made 64 transactions at Walmart for grocery pickup totaling $16,123.66.

In addition to an $800 down payment on a vehicle purchase in March 2024, several auto insurance payments in Allyn’s name were made to both Progressive and The General, cumulatively valued over $4,000 within an 18-month period.

Allyn’s Apple account received more than 100 payments, totaling $2,804.65. The VLC credit card was also used to fund her monthly Netflix and Spotify subscriptions.

Her Union Wireless cellphone account received $3,317 in payments. 

“Allyn admitted to paying these bills for her two telephone lines she had with Union Wireless using the VLC credit card,” court documents state. “Allyn admitted to making a laptop computer purchase from Best Buy on Jan. 10, 2024, in the amount of $1,363.95.”

She also made additional, unauthorized purchases at ULTA Beauty Supply, Stub Hub and Fanatics totaling more than $2,000. Allyn also confirmed to law enforcement that she made an online purchase of $664 for pop-on dental veneers.

Finally, Allyn traveled and funded accommodation expenses using the VLC credit card. Nearly $2,000 was spent on a trip to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, in February 2024, and more than $2,000 for a trip to California in December 2024.

Many of Allyn’s purchases were boasted about on social media in real time.

Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 5, when Judge James Kaste will either accept the plea deal or toss out the agreement and hand down a sentence of his own.

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