Dierks City Council votes for former Water Clerk to go to trial

Aldermen of the Dierks City Council held a public meeting Monday night.

Mayor Ronnie Cogburn gave the floor to Prosecuting Attorney Jana Bradford and Aaron Brasel to discuss how the process is going in the case of 59-year-old Cheryl Delarosa. Bradford explained to the council that Delarosa is set for trial in two weeks, starting June 20th. Bradford stated that Delarosa’s attorney met with them during pre-trial last week and made a potential offer but they didn’t make any real headway so Bradford is leaving it up to the council to either decide whether Delarosa can go to trial or give them as prosecutors the authority to explore reasonable settlement based on their experience in dealing with courtroom and criminal matters.

Delarosa, who was employed as the Dierks City Secretary and Water Clerk, was arrested back in 2021, following a state police investigation which was led by Special Agent Joe Pickett, into missing city funds of more than half a million dollars. Authorities also found bank accounts under her name that had unexplained cash deposits, along with possible gambling winnings, totaling approximately $261,000. Investigators determined the money was missing during a period of January 2015 through September 2020. Delarosa was charged with six felony Theft of Property counts greater than $25,000 and six other counts of Abusing the Public Trust, which is also a felony.

After further discussion of the matter aldermen of the Dierks City Council approved a motion to let it go to trial. All were in favor of the motion.