Woman gets probation in Boone County embezzlement case

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman who was sentenced last month in a Cooper County embezzlement case was sentenced to probation in her Boone County case on Friday.

Both cases make a combined total of over $63,000 of stolen funds.

Jennifer Waibel, 53, of Boonville, pleaded guilty on Friday in her Boone County case to stealing more than $750 and two counts of fraudulently using a credit card. She was sentenced to five years of probation along with a suspended sentence. The judge also gave her a suspended imposition of sentence, meaning if she completes probation, the charges will not show up publicly.

She is currently serving 30 days in the Cooper County Jail after she pleaded guilty to felony stealing in Cooper County. She will also serve five years of probation for that case, which will run at the same time as her Boone County term. Jail records show she was booked into the jail on Monday.

She was also ordered to pay more than $5,000 in restitution.

In the Boone County case, she’s accused of spending $13,650 on gift cards while using 10 company credit cards from Impact Support Services, located on Chapel Hill Road in Columbia, court documents in previous reporting say. Spending took place during March 2025.

Cooper County Judge Jeff Mittelhauser, overseeing one of the cases also ordered Waibel "shall not work for any agency which receives public funds," according to court documents.

"We are glad this conviction will ensure this individual is barred from working in this field or with other vulnerable populations moving forward," Julie Allen, chief operating officer of Impact Support Services, wrote in a statement to ABC 17 News. "Our goal from the beginning was to protect the community, which is why our agency took immediate action to report this matter to the proper authorities."

Court documents in previous reporting for the Cooper County case say she is accused of stealing $49,661.36 from Unlimited Opportunities by spending the money in several transactions from June 16-Aug. 31, 2023, which included several multi-thousand-dollar purchases at Walmart locations in Boonville, Columbia and in Madison, Georgia. Allen was working as the group's executive director at the time.

ABC 17 News has reached out to Unlimited Opportunities.