Woman Who Stole $1.9 Mil From Neumann's Clothing Biz Accepts Deal: 12 Years in Prison

You remember Shannon DeMerse, right? No? She's the former Ivy Jane employee who somehow managed to steal $1.9 million from Ivy Jane, the clothing company that, at the time, was owned by council member Dave Neumann and his wife Frances (though now it's all Frances's following the couple's divorce). Anyway.Allen...

By Robert Wilonsky

December 17, 2010

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You remember Shannon DeMerse, right? No? She's the former Ivy Jane employee who somehow managed to steal $1.9 million from Ivy Jane, the clothing company that, at the time, was owned by council member Dave Neumann and his wife Frances (though now it's all Frances's following the couple's divorce). Anyway.

Allen Gwinn at Dallas.org's been all over the story since it broke last year, and this morning he was liveblogging from the courtroom where DeMerse was agreeing to a plea deal. And he just reported: "She has agreed to a plea deal of 12 years in prison. Sentencing has been set for next month." She'll also have to cough up more than $2 mil in restitution. Neumann -- who, as Gwinn notes, received a $2.8-million dollar judgment against DeMerse in a civil trial that wrapped last month -- attended the hearing.

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