RAMSEY COUNTY — An Oberon, North Dakota, woman and former school board member convicted of accomplice to theft was sentenced to 300 days of electronic home monitoring on Friday, Jan. 27.
Carolyn Joyce Nelson, 64, was found guilty of Class A felony accomplice to theft of property more than $50,000 on Dec. 27, after a two-day bench trial.
According to an affidavit in the case, Nelson — who was an Oberon School Board member at the time — allowed Laura Schnieber-Bruns to enter an arrangement with the school board on Oct. 16, 2019, “and caused, allowed, and encouraged the Oberon School District to expend monies in excess of $150,000.”
Victim, Survivor, the Voice, LLC, a sales firm owned by Schnieber-Bruns, lacked the credentials to conduct an audit and was not in good standing with the North Dakota Secretary of State, the affidavit said.
Schnieber-Bruns was convicted of two counts of Class A felony theft over $50,000 and one count of Class C felony theft of a government record. Schnieber-Bruns was sentenced to 300 days of electronic home monitoring, which she has completed. According to court records, Schnieber-Bruns is now on supervised probation.
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Nelson, alongside Schnieber-Bruns, are responsible for paying a total of $120,000 in restitution to the Oberon Public School. The total must be paid before Nelson’s probation ends on Jan. 27, 2026.
Schnieber-Bruns has paid $12,469.37 in restitution thus far, leaving $107,530.63.
Corey Ploium, Karen Peterson and Jacob Hegland were suspended from the school board alongside Nelson in 2020. Ploium was convicted of Class A misdemeanor failure to disclose conflict of interest by a school board member or other school officer and sentenced to one year of probation.