Wearing handcuffs, leg irons, and the traditional orange clothing for inmates at the Hernando County Correctional Institution, Susana Arneson—the former Director of Operations for the Humane Society of the Nature Coast (HSNC)—sat in the corner of a courtroom at the Brooksville Courthouse in Brooksville, Florida on October 12, 2023. As she awaited sentencing, she avoided eye contact with the more than 50 members of the community, HSNC staff, and board of directors members who waited to learn her fate.
Assistant State Attorney Donald Robert Lewis called Hernando County Sheriff’s Office Detective Jason Tippin to the stand.
Mr. Tippin, the lead detective in the case, testified that in January 2020, Ms. Arneson made herself a registered agent of the HSNC with the Department of Corporations of Florida, “independent of the knowledge of the Humane Society.” After opening a bank account, with herself as the only authorized signer, she began diverting funds donated to the shelter into the new account.
A forensic accounting firm reported that Ms. Arneson diverted $1,551,148.87 into the account between Jan. 30, 2020, and Feb. 9, 2022.
Mr. Tippin said the investigation cost Hernando County taxpayers $15,143.40.
Mr. Lewis played the video from an April 13, 2020, report by local news station WFLA after an Easter weekend burglary saw 90 percent of the shelter’s supplies stolen.
“It takes somebody who’s heartless to take from somebody who’s voiceless,” Ms. Arneson said of the robbery.
By this time, Mr. Tippin said Ms. Arneson had already stolen “around $330,000” from the shelter.
During cross-examination, Ms. Arneson’s defense attorney, Omar Abdelghany, noted that an estimated $400,000 in cash and property had been recovered and that Ms. Arneson “cooperated fully.” Mr. Tippin confirmed this to be true.
Lisa Judge, the vice president of the HSNC, testified that Ms. Arneson’s theft damaged the shelter’s standing in the community and nearly caused the shelter to close.
Reading from a prepared statement, Ms. Judge told the court that the HSNC relies solely on community support and it would “take years” to recoup their losses.
She showed the court photos of “the true victims” of Ms. Arneson’s crime, abandoned and abused animals who could have benefitted from the money she stole.
The Defense
Dr. Donald McMurray, a psychologist obtained by the defense who evaluated Ms. Arneson, testified that the defendant had suffered from extreme anxiety, depression, and an obsessive-compulsive disorder since childhood. He said. Ms. Arneson had told him she had been undergoing treatment for these disorders for at least four years before her arrest. He diagnosed Ms. Arneson with schizoaffective disorder of the bipolar type. Symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, and major depression.Mr. McMurray also determined that, because this was Ms. Arneson’s first crime, there was little chance she would repeat the offense.
During cross-examination, Mr. McMurray admitted that, other than her word, there was no evidence to prove Ms. Arneson had been receiving treatment for four years.
Before rendering his sentence, Judge Daniel Merritt, Jr., of the Fifth Circuit Court of Florida, permitted Ms. Arneson to read a prepared statement.
She tearfully expressed remorse, saying she initially began stealing the money to keep up with her millionaire ex-husband and to win sole custody of their children. The “fast money and lifestyle” became an addiction she “couldn’t stop.”
She pleaded with the court to allow her to serve her sentence through probation so she could go home to her two children, get her “vet tech certification,” and attempt to “pay back” the money she stole.
Judge Merritt ultimately sentenced Ms. Arneson to 7.5 years in the Florida Department of Corrections with 611 days of credit for time served.
