05/18/2026
Vindication today by the Honorable J. Lee Hoffoss, Jr. Anna Theriot was a victim of classic overcharging by the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office and the pure greed of Hamilton Christian Academy (HCA). She was originally charged with Theft (between $5,000 and $25,000) and Forgery (7 counts). On October 2, 2025, we reached an extensively negotiated settlement with the District Attorney’s Office. Anna pleaded No Contest to Theft (less than $1,000), which is a misdemeanor. Our client, in the spirit of compromise and moving on with her life, agreed to pay $10,718.56 to Hamilton. While Anna and her husband promptly paid that amount, they always maintained that it exceeded the actual loss to HCA.
However, the State was not satisfied. They insisted, at the urging of HCA, that the plea agreement include an opportunity for them to prove that our client should pay more in restitution. Well, they got what they asked for on Wednesday of last week and it went exceedingly well for Anna. In a superbly written ruling released this morning, Judge Hoffoss ordered that the total amount our client pay Hamilton is $4,191.01. Since she has paid significantly more than that, she does not owe them another penny.
HCA utilized two separate local CPA firms in an attempt to support their allegations against our client. However, it was the audit conducted by Langley Williams & Co. that the State relied primarily on. Sarah Clark Werner’s audit report was based upon two very flawed and preposterous assumptions: That all checks payable to cash were cashed (and the funds used personally) by Anna. The second ridiculous assumption was that all debit card purchases that were delivered to our client’s home were unauthorized and for personal use. We argued, and Judge Hoffoss agreed, that the law in Louisiana is very clear on this topic. The amounts that citizens are required to pay in restitution must be limited to “actual pecuniary loss” to the victim. Not some absurd speculative amount that HCA was trying to obtain from the Theriots.
Judge Sharon D. Wilson is the president of HCA’s board of directors. She was a key witness for the State in the hearing. She told Judge Hoffoss that Hamilton was requesting that he order our client pay restitution for all of the items delivered to her home and the alleged “forged” checks. This totaled $23,471.09.
Under cross examination Judge Wilson had to admit that HCA had very little, if any, written policies. She claimed that there was an “unwritten” policy against writing checks to cash and that cash had to be obtained by going directly to the bank for a withdrawal. However, her testimony was rebutted by Kevin Hoover. He is an LCPD detective and former member of HCA’s board. He testified that he was not aware of any policy that prohibited making checks
payable in cash. Nor was there a policy against home deliveries of supplies to be used at school.
Our client courageously testified. Fortunately, we were able to present evidence to corroborate her testimony by using posts on HCA’s own page. Per Judge Hoffoss: “She bolstered her testimony by introducing a number of Facebook posts from HCA’s
page showing the exact items listed in the Langley Williams forensic report being used at the school or at school events.”
Judge Hoffoss also discussed Anna cashing checks to get seed money for sporting events: “The State failed to meet its burden of proving that Anna Theriot violated any policies actually being used by HCA employees and staff at the time at issue by obtaining seed money illegally enriching herself to the detriment of HCA.”
The ultimate insult was at the conclusion of the hearing when the State requested that Anna be ordered to reimburse Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office for the costs paid for the Langley Williams’ audit. While Detective John Melton’s report stated that HCA paid for the audit. However, Judge Wilson testified that HCA could not afford the costs of an audit so former Sheriff Mancuso agreed to foot the bill. Regardless, no one had an invoice for the audit, and
they just randomly speculated that it costs “about” $10,000.00. Judge Hoffoss correctly rejected that also: “The Court cannot simply speculate as to amounts to be taxed when no competent evidence is introduced as to the specificity of those costs.”
We are thrilled that Anna and her family can put this horrific experience behind them. She is focused on moving onward and upward with her good name intact.
Access the ruling here:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:2a9fe27e-c2b4-43d1-bc76-7aecc5d0123e
