Tuesday July 30,
2013
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 117, No. 180
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • 1 section
Medical office manager must serve 5 years BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Facing sentencing for embezzlement of $144,000 while serving as a medical office manager, Donna Trim tearfully apologized for her crime Monday morning in Alcorn County Circuit Court. “I now am a different person completely … I plead for
your mercy to give me a second chance to be the person and the mother that I need to be,” said Trim, who pleaded guilty last November. Trim and her husband, Terry, urged Judge Thomas Gardner III to hand down a sentence of probation or house arrest. Her attorney, Nick Bain, said she did not act out of malice and
that her husband, who has cancer, is dependent upon her job security. Gardner received a number of letters in support of Trim, and he acknowledged that the Trim family has faced difficult circumstances. “I’m kind of at a loss to know what to do with this thing,” he said before hearing comments
from the Trims and the victim. On count one of embezzlement, the judge sentenced Trim to 10 years in custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections with five years suspended, leaving five years to serve. He ordered her to pay restitution of $144,080.93 to Robert McKinney, M.D.; $25,000 to Travelers Insurance; and $381 to the
Celebrating a second chance Corinth man alive thanks to organ donor BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Reabon Sanders is alive today. The 67-year-old is able to take rides on his Honda Goldwing Trike with wife, Sharon, all because of an organ donor. Sanders will celebrate a year with his new heart on Aug. 4. The industrial sewing machine technician will mark the occasion by sharing his testimony with the congregation at Zion Pentecostal Church in Christ. The church is located on Little Zion Road in Corinth. “It’s not about me, it’s what the Lord does to help people,” said Sanders of his talk set for 11 a.m. “We want people to know organ donations make a difference,” added Sharon. A third of his heart was damaged when Sanders suffered his first heart attack at the age of 50. Over time, he had more attacks with 11 stents put in. A pacemaker and defibrillator were also added before it was determined he needed a new heart. “I was on the list a year and spent five weeks in Baptist Memorial Hospital,” he said. “Life has been wonderful since the transplant.” Sanders learned his heart came from a 54-year-old motorcycle policeman in Oklahoma. “He is still riding a bike today,” said Sanders with a smile.
Alcorn County Sheriff’s Department. On a second count of embezzlement, the judge handed down a 10-year suspended sentence. She must also pay a $1,000 fine and was sentenced to five years of post-release supervision. Please see SENTENCE | 3
Details released from fatal wreck BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Seven people were treated at the hospital following Saturday’s fatal wreck on U.S. Highway 72. The Corinth Police Department released more details on the crash Monday afternoon. Theresa Lahey, 44, of Walnut, died in the 3:49 p.m. crash, and seven others among the three vehicles were taken to Magnolia Regional Health Center with non-life-threatening injuries. Capt. Chuck Hinds said Lahey was a passenger in the back seat of a 1999 Chevrolet Impala driven by her father, Gary Lahey, 68, of Walnut. Also passengers in the vehicle were Crystal Ozbirn Lahey, 43, of Walnut, and Michael Anderson, 23, of Corinth. Hinds said the westbound Impala was sitting stationary on the highway waiting to turn left onto Salem Road when it was struck in the rear by a westbound 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer driven by Beverly Bartlett, 51, of East Ridge, Tenn. Tiffany Bartlett, 24, of East Ridge, Tenn., was a passenger in the vehicle. The Impala was knocked into the side of an eastbound 2006 Jeep Sport driven by Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Please see DONOR | 3
Reabon Sanders was back on his trike two months after receiving a heart transplant last year.
Please see WRECK | 3
Latest area scam centers on Medicaid Early morning burglars hit BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Attempts to bilk elderly citizens in the area have now turned to a Medicaid scam. Rienzi’s Lou Mahler was the latest senior citizen approached about giving personal information over the telephone. “I was told they needed my checking account number or I would lose my Medicaid,” said Mahler. Mahler called the agency after not giving up his number. “People at Medicaid are never going to ask for something like that,” he said. The Rienzi man said the number he was called from showed up as private and the caller identified himself as John Carper. In May, the Better Business Bureau alerted the elderly and disabled individuals to beware
of unsolicited phone calls from scammers looking to obtain Medicare or Medicaid information. Senior citizens have been given a number of excuses in attempt to get personal information. Phone numbers are being obtained from marketing lists, phone directories and the Internet. Some also call from “spoofed” phone numbers, meaning the real numbers are disguised on phones equipped with caller ID so the numbers can’t be traced. Scammers can be very aggressive, often calling many times and at all hours of the day to wear down potential victims, according to the BBB. The BBB recommends the following to avoid this scam: ■ Never give out their personal information over the phone, especially if it is from an unso-
licited caller. If consumers receive a suspicious phone call, they should hang up immediately. ■ Remind elderly family members that Medicare will never call to ask for sensitive personal financial information. If you suspect fraud contact your local police or the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General at 800-HHS-TIPS. ■ Don’t do business with door-to-door or telephone salespeople who tell you that medical services or equipment are free. Medicare, Medicaid and the Social Security Administration will not call you to update information or issue a new card. ■ Give your insurance/ Medicare identification only
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Please see SCAM | 3
Berry’s Trading Post store BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
Corinth police recovered a number of firearms following an early-morning break-in at Berry’s Trading Post on Monday. The Corinth Police Department received an alarm call from Berry’s around 3:30 a.m., said Deputy Chief Scotty Harville. Officer Tim Lancaster responded to the Shiloh Road store and discovered the metal siding torn away and a hole in the plywood on the back of the building. Lancaster called for assistance and other officers arrived on the scene and searched the building, finding no one inside. Detective Bill Green was also called to the gun store. A short
time later officers recovered several rifles in a field behind the business. As of Monday police were not certain if anything else was missing and the owner of the business was checking his inventory. In other early morning police news, two juveniles were arrested Monday morning for alleged acts of vandalism at Crossroads Regional Park. While on patrol around 5 a.m. Monday a patrolman noticed some movement around the restroom near the playground at the park. He investigated and discovered vandalism on the picnic area. The vandals had apparently forced their way into a park Please see BURGLAR | 3
On this day in history 150 years ago Major John Mosby, the “Gray Ghost of the Confederacy” captures a train of 30 wagons near Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia. In a brief fight the wagons are taken back by the “California Battalion” of the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry, men recruited in the San Francisco area to fight in the east.
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