Woman accused of stealing more than $125,000

Saturday, March 24, 2012

A Tippecanoe County woman was arrested Thursday for allegedly stealing more than $100,000 from a Greencastle medical practice.

Melinda D. Mishler, 50, of Romney, is accused of stealing $126,128.15 from Acute Medical Care, Greencastle. The alleged theft of funds occurred while Mishler was serving as office manager for the practice owned by Dr. Thomas Black.

The thefts reportedly took place from 2008 through 2011. Mishler allegedly retired prior to the investigation.

She has been charged with one count of Class C felony theft and four counts of Class D felony theft.

The investigation began in early February after the office staff noticed discrepancies in the financial records of the office. Indiana State Police 1st Sgt. Scott Stockton handled the case.

A warrant was issued for Mishler's arrest by Putnam Circuit Court on Tuesday, March 20.

Mishler was arrested without incident by Stockton at 10 a.m. Thursday and booked into the Putnam County Jail.

An initial hearing was held in Putnam Circuit Court that morning, with Darrell Felling representing Mishler and Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter representing the state. Mishler entered a not guilty plea.

Bail was set at $100,000, with 10 percent allowed. She posted the $10,000 on Thursday.

A pre-trial conference is set for Thursday, May 10.

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  • Karma has a way of biting a person in the butt doesn't. I am just glad it was not covered up, or maybe it was. Ask yourself this, If you admitted to the police weeks ago that you did indeed commit a crime, then how is it that you can delay an arrest warrant until you obtain a lawyer, then wait for the lawyer to come back from vacation, come up with bond money then turn yourself in to the jail and bond directly out without ever going in front of a judge. Seems as though someone had a friend at the state police, because if this was any other person their butt would have been arrested soon as they admitted to the crime and would have had to go in front of a judge to get a bond. According to the Clerk's Office the warrant was issued on the 20th of this month and she posted bond as soon as she was booked in and her initial appearance is on May 20th. To make it worse the Banner Graphic was told that the investigation was still ongoing and no arrests were made. So dear law abiding citizens, do you think it may have had anything to do with the fact her husband is a retired state cop?

    -- Posted by Oh My Goodness on Sat, Mar 24, 2012, at 8:46 AM
  • Maybe she didnt do it, or maybe she could of been set up. People of putnam county, whybe so judgemental of others when they commet a crime, thats why we have court systems, so stop judgeing others on this site. I dont know her, but I dont think she needs to be told that shes a theif or a loser if she did it then im sure shes regretfull about it. It doesnt mean shes a bad person it means shes not perfect,but really who is. If your all perfect, then why are we all tight on money and broke. As for acute medical, sorry ur money got stolen, but ill never go back there and wait two hours when I had an appointment. And to her husband, thanks for ur service, troopers rock.

    -- Posted by etphonehome on Sat, Mar 24, 2012, at 2:04 PM
  • No one knows the truth yet-and no one is above critisism-Remeber do unto others asyou would have them do unto you !

    -- Posted by talkymom3 on Sat, Mar 24, 2012, at 10:01 PM
  • Oh my goodness, you only have half your facts straight. First of all the person in question did in fact admit to the theft after it was brought to her attention that an investigation was underway. The delay from they time she admitted to the crime to the time she turned herself in is of no ones concern. She and her attorney probably made a deal with the state police for the time line to be that way. I would imagine that Doc Black did not intend for her to get arrested. That man would give you the shirt off his back if he could. I do recall many years ago that we had a similar investigation in the office only this time it involved medication being stolen. I guess in hindsight I see it as odd because it was the person that stole money in this mess' husband who made our entire office staff take lie detectors and be interviewed, but then out of the blue the investigation was over and no one was implicated. I left the office soon after that do to the fact that we all knew who did it and it was covered up. My prayers are with the victims of this case and hope that justice is given to the best of its ability to the person who caused Doc financial distress.

    -- Posted by IUnurse2000 on Sun, Mar 25, 2012, at 8:20 AM
  • folks, when was the last time that a story was printed in the B-G that wasn't true? or the last time that a story about an officer worker did not indeed steal the money? regretful? do you have inside knowledge? I do not know this woman, but under similar circumstances, I haven't seen any remorse by these white collar criminals.

    The way the arrest works seems odd to me, but it must be different for white collar and the state police. It's my understanding that the last suspect in a similar crime happened the same way.

    Stealing is wrong. I'll be watching for restitution.

    -- Posted by letspulltogether on Sun, Mar 25, 2012, at 3:41 PM
  • Good grief. I remember her from the office. What a nice and helpful person she was/is(?)Hard to say anymore, but stealing from her employer, senseless.

    -- Posted by kbmom on Sun, Mar 25, 2012, at 9:49 PM
  • Please someone enlighten me on the way our judicial system works when it concerns family of a state police officer. IUnurse, not to sure where you are going with your train of thought there but I will tell you what if you were in her shoes they would have you in bracelets quicker than you could bat an eye. I personally do not understand how this person can get away with stealing that much money and do nothing more than a walkthrough of the jail with her husband and then to bond out without ever so much as going in front of a judge. I think that the Banner should do some serious investigative reporting and find out why they are trying so hard to keep this of all the money stealing cases out of the limelight. Maybe this one should be brought into the state wide media as well. Ask yourself if it were you and you did do the same thing would your be treated as such. I think not. Apparently she is above the law and they want to keep it out of public view. I mean a Class C felony and 4 Class d felonies and she never hit a courtroom. And then for them to release her on such a low bond for the amount of money she stole. Heck that was probably her former employer's money. And then to top it off she didn't get a tether like all the other people that bond out of our local jail. I mean seriously..And BG ask yourself why did they keep the local media in the dark?

    -- Posted by Oh My Goodness on Mon, Mar 26, 2012, at 1:37 PM
    Response by bannergraphic:
    She actually went before a judge. The story was updated on Sunday when that information was obtained by our office. Please reread the story.
  • Mindy is a fine person and will learn from her mistakes.

    -- Posted by Opinion1 on Tue, Mar 27, 2012, at 12:25 PM
  • Well let's start by paying for them first then learn after..

    -- Posted by Oh My Goodness on Wed, Mar 28, 2012, at 10:33 AM
  • Oh My Goodness, it apears that not only do you need to get your facts straight, but you should consider getting a hobby. You have proved that you do not know the details of this case therefore your idle gossip and opionions should be kept to yourself. The manner in which she was arrested is none of your concern, but if you did know the details you would think differently. Anyone would have been treated the same way nomatter who they were married to. For the record, Mindy is a wonderful person and a loving mother. You dont know what she did or her reasons for doing them. BTW she is innocent until proven guilty.

    -- Posted by F.P. on Wed, Mar 28, 2012, at 5:21 PM
  • F.P and the Banner have given you closet detectives all the clues you need!

    Left out is the fact that her husband has nothing to do with this what so ever, he has done a lot for our state, so lets give him the respect he is due and leave him out of this!

    Here is another clue, Mindy was not employed by Acute Medical Care at the time that the medications were taken either,so reread the articles or write it down if you have to, but do better than that at following along.

    PS. your stories of cover ups and speed traps are just coming off flippant, stick to one story and not this one!

    -- Posted by PINKY1963 on Wed, Mar 28, 2012, at 8:24 PM
  • Ohmygoodness...Let me clear up a few things on the judicial system for you. You can't believe everything you watch on "Law and Order".

    1. A "bond" is only a guarantee that a accused person will return to court. Obviously they found her not to be a flight risk. I actually thought the bond was high for the crime.

    2. Most bonds are set by a judge that the accused never sees.

    3. Most court systems in the small rural areas do not have the resources to detain every person ACCUSED of a crime. I would rather this woman be on the streets instead of the meth dealer, drunk driver or child molester.

    4. I find it rather hard to believe that some of you have never watched the news and heard a story about an accused person being allowed to turn themselves in? And you think her husbands former law enforcement career has somehow helped her in this? Really? Seems to me that if she somehow received special treatment, we wouldn't be here right now would we?

    In closing, I do not know nor do I really care if she took the money or not. What I do know is that I hope some of you never end up on a jury. Feel sorry for the accused in that case. An arrest is not an indication of guilt. Therefore, do not convict her on a public forum. Maybe instead of sitting on here with your judging, go hug your kid and spend some time with them instead of being an "internet juror" You never know, it could be your kid on here next and they just might be accused of a crime that you know they did not commit.

    PS. Every time I leave the hospital, dentist or doctors office...I feel like I was just robbed...just saying..

    Have a great day!

    -- Posted by amoralaroma on Thu, Mar 29, 2012, at 1:59 PM
  • Who Cares-let law enforcement and the judge do their job.

    -- Posted by peace2019 on Tue, Apr 3, 2012, at 6:42 PM
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