Former Probation Officer Enters Plea to Forgery

A probation officer who allegedly used a client’s money order to commit forgery and theft was sentenced Tuesday in DeKalb County Criminal Court.
31 year old Ashley Lasser, who worked for CPS Community Probation Service, entered a plea to forgery and received a four year sentence fully suspended to judicial diversion probation. She cannot work in law enforcement during her term of probation. Lasser must also make restitution to CPS in the amount of $585.00. The theft charge against her was dismissed.
According to the warrant, Lasser passed a forged money order in the amount of $50 to the Dollar General Store in Smithville on Thursday, September 18, 2014. The money order was made out by a client of CPS as payment to Life Savers of Tennessee, which is a probation service where Lasser worked. She allegedly marked out the name Life Savers of Tennessee on the money order, wrote in Dollar General Store, and then passed the forged money order to the clerk.
The probation client, a defendant in a criminal case, had made out the money order to life Savers of Tennessee as payment for attending an anger management class.
Lasser allegedly used the money order at the Dollar General Store to purchase a soft drink and then received change back in cash.
Lasser reportedly was terminated from her job as probation officer after this offense came to light..
The case was investigated by Lieutenant Detective Matt Holmes and former Chief Randy Caplinger of the Smithville Police Department.