Civil Judgment added to Criminal Sentence

A circuit judge has entered a civil judgment and lien against a Westminster woman who took campaign and personal money belonging to U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham. Sister station WGOG reports that in a ruling last week in the case of Mary Jennifer Adams, a former office worker for the senator, Judge Alex Macaulay said, “After hearing the evidence, I find that no cause was shown why judgment should not be entered for the unpaid balance of fines and restitution.” As part of her year and a half prison sentence in 2008, Adams was ordered to re-pay Graham and his campaign about $300,000. She pleaded guilty to financial identity fraud and breach of trust with fraudulent intent. At sentencing, Adams’ lawyer told the court that his client had written a check to cover nearly $20,000 taken from Graham’s personal account. However, the civil judgment, entered last week, orders Adams to pay sums of money totaling more than $330,000. The defendant had blamed much of what happened on a bi-polar physical condition.