Batesville woman sentenced toprison for theft

There was a packed courtroom on Tuesday last week, March 3, when Jennifer D. Fullenkamp, 62, of Batesville, was sentenced for theft. The Level 5 Felony was for theft over $54,000, but the impact was much greater with an estimate of nearly $500,000 being taken from Scheele Orthodontics where she was employed for over 15 years. She was also considered a friend of the Scheele family.

Prosecutor Ric Hertel told the Osgood Journal that it was emotional for the defendant and the victim in this case due to the long-standing relationship between them. The courtroom was packed with those who stood with the defendant and hoped for a lighter sentenced and packed with those who were there to see her sentenced for what she had done.

Counsel for the defendant, Mike Cunningham, wanted probation for his client, who didn’t have a criminal record. However, the State was in a different position and argued that while “She’s (Fullenkamp) not the worst of the worst,” this was still a significant crime against a business and trusted friend. A 14-page victim impact statement was heard in court outlining what Fullenkamp had put the business and friend through with her actions.

Judge Ryan King weighed the evidence for and against and decided there were aggravating factors in the fact that this was an ongoing episode of conduct and the real cost to the business. He then sentenced Fullenkamp to five years in prison with only one suspended.

Outlined in the Probable Cause Affidavit, Dr. Angela Scheele, owner of Scheele Orthodontics, reported a theft of about $500,000.00 to the Batesville Police Department in October of 2022. The initial detective was Michael Manus who documented the information. Eventually the Indiana State Police became involved. Dr. Scheele hired a private forensic accounting firm, Prosperident, who specialize in investigating fraud to dental practices. The Prosperident Forensic Examiner worked her own independent investigation, while also assisting the ISP.

It was discovered that Fullenkamp had been stealing cash payments from customers essentially since she began employment with the dentist’s office in 2007. In court documents it showed that Fullenkamp would offer customers a discount to pay cash or check for their entire dental package up front. There was no discount if they paid by credit card. She offered them cash discounts that were as high as 20% and some she just offered a random amount. It was noted that the scheme she had developed was two-fold. One was to keep the cash payments off the end of day reports and two, keep the individual patient accounts balanced by re-entering the payments after running the end of day reports. At times when the customer would pay with cash, Fullenkamp would delete the payment when the customer left. This way it wouldn’t be on the end of day report. Or she would simply not enter the payment until after the end of day report.

On numerous occasions Fullenkamp rigged the report in her favor and then deposited the money in her own bank account. Work time records for Fullenkamp coincided with the missing money and forensic investigation made it possible to show how she had been taking the money for a long time. Paul Baker, Indiana State Police Detective, signed off on the affidavit to charge Fullenkamp with Theft, Level 5 Felony.

Prosecutor Hertel noted that he has prosecuted other theft cases of people who had stolen from their employers, in those cases they were men. However, he didn’t consider anything except the crime – and felt Fullenkamp deserved jail time. He said he considers this an egregious act against someone who is paying you to do a job for them.

Court records reveal Scheele Orthodontics filed a Complaint for Damages against Fullenkamp in 2024. It is also important to note that the Indiana State Police Investigation is specific to Fullenkamp’s thefts for the 2019-2022 time period, when Scheele Orthodontics was located in Ripley County. They originally were located in Franklin County where police say the theft far exceeded the $50,000 amount bringing the amount to nearly half a million dollars.