COLUMBIANA – The Shelby County District Attorney is seeking an higher than normal prison sentence for a Helena Middle School bookkeeper and Alabaster resident who was arrested and charged with theft of property in the first degree in June.

The notice of intent “to seek upward departure from presumptive sentencing guidelines” requested that, if convicted, the sentence of Tyee Marks Eason be more severe than average based on several “aggravating factors.”

According to court documents, Eason, who lists an address on Grande View Terrace in Maylene, was arrested at the beginning of June after she allegedly embezzled over $100,000 from the Shelby County Board of Education while working as a bookkeeper at HMS.

Prosecutor P. Douglas Smith Jr., who filed the notice on July 14, cited Eason’s “fiduciary relationship” with the BOE, the amount of money involved and “the high degree of sophistication or planning” involved in the crime as reasons why Eason’s sentence should be heavier.

Eason’s case has been assigned to Shelby County District Judge Daniel A. Crowson, and her preliminary hearing is set for July 26.