A Plattsmouth woman found guilty of attempting to steal from the bank accounts of two youth sports organizations and her late stepson’s scholarship fund was sentenced to two years of probation Monday in Cass County.
Jill Dasher, 51, was originally charged with three counts of felony theft in Cass County District Court. Dasher later pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted misdemeanor theft in exchange for the prosecutor’s recommendation of probation at sentencing.
Cass County Attorney Chris Perrone said Dasher took money from the Plattsmouth Baseball/Softball Association, Blue Lightning softball team and the Beau Dasher Scholarship Fund. Some of the money was used to make a mortgage payment and buy Christmas gifts.
In addition to probation, Dasher also will have to complete 80 hours of community service and write an apology letter to the baseball/softball association.
Full restitution of over $21,000 was made in advance of the plea agreement, Perrone said. In order to make restitution, Dasher had to sell her car and boat, according to Perrone.
In September 2022, a co-administrator of the baseball/softball association, alerted Plattsmouth Police to discrepancies in that organization’s bank account. The woman told an investigator that she also suspected the baseball/softball association was overcharged for field insurance.
Plattsmouth baseball’s select teams also were overcharged $1,000, the co-administrator said. Dasher purchased insurance covering only 52 players instead of the 180 players on the team rosters. Dasher admitted to the detective that she received a much larger insurance deposit from the teams and pocketed the difference, the affidavit stated.
It wasn’t until after Dasher’s first arrest in September that suspicions were raised about her handling of her stepson’s scholarship fund. Dasher’s stepson, Beau, was 20 years old when he and Gabrielle Ramirez, 19, died in a one-vehicle crash on U.S. 75 near Offutt Air Force Base in December 2019.
Dasher was the co-owner of the scholarship bank account, according to an arrest affidavit. The other owner called police in November 2022 after noticing several suspicious withdrawals from the account.
In May and June of 2022, Dasher withdrew a total of $4,500 from the scholarship fund, according to the affidavit. The money was meant to offer scholarships for students interested in pursuing culinary arts, which Beau was passionate about.
“I hope this is good for the community,” Perrone said of the sentence. “I hope it leads to healing.”