NC State associate professor Scott Whisnant faced his first court appearance Thursday afternoon after turning himself in on three charges of embezzlement.
Whisnant turned himself in Wednesday upon University Police obtaining a warrant for his arrest on three charges of embezzlement. If found guilty, Whisnant could be in prison for 39 months, according to Judge Keith Gregory, whose court he made an appearance in Thursday afternoon. The embezzlement charges are felony level.
Whisnant plead no contest. Whisnant’s attorney Christian Dysart asked that Whisnant be considered for pre-trial release. Gregory granted the request, on the condition that Whisnant remain under electronic house arrest for the duration of the trial.
Whisnant took $750 from the Agri-Life Council, $16,862 from the Alpha Zeta Agricultural Honors Fraternity, and $54,255 from the Animal Science Club over the past year, according to The News & Observer. Whisnant resigned from the animal science department the day before he turned himself in to the Wake County Sheriff's Department.
According to Dysart, Whisnant has made restitutions to the groups. Raleigh District Attorney Becky Holt confirmed that she had heard that restitution had been made, so she did not attempt to alter the charges against Whisnant.
The treasurer of the Animal Science Club tipped N.C. State auditors off to discrepancies in the club's bank statements on Jan. 14. University Police began investigating five days later, according to WRAL.
Charlotte Farin has taken over the teaching duties of Whisnant’s ANS 220 class. She told the class she didn’t have any details on the investigation, but she wanted the transition to go as smooth as possible, according to students enrolled in the class.
Animal Science Club fundraises most of its money through the milk booth at the State Fair.
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