Judge’s scathing reprimand leads to jail time in theft case

An Owatonna woman accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from her employer has been sent to jail after a scathing reprimand from the judge hearing her case.

Kari Van Ravenhorst, 45, was originally charged with three counts of felony theft, one count of felony check forgery, and four counts of willfully attempting to evade or defeat a tax law, also a felony.

The total amount taken from Thompson Sanitation was listed as more than $84,000. The company is based out of Clarks Grove and serves counties in southeast Minnesota and northern Iowa.

The sentence

Van Ravenhorst pleaded guilty in June to the theft and check forgery charges; in exchange for the plea, the tax evasion charges were dismissed.

She was sentenced Sept. 30 in Freeborn County District Court, where Judge Christy Hormann handed down the 180-day jail term.

Horman also sentenced her to 17 months in prison for a second theft charge, stayed for five years; Van Ravenhorst received a stay of imposition on the remaining count of theft and the single count of check forgery.

She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $84,204.75.

“Probably not the outcome you were expecting, but you know what? You made decisions that are going to have a lasting impact on your former employer, and it’s something they’ll probably have to deal with for the rest of their lives,” Hormann said.

The judge said the thefts seemed to be “retaliatory … ‘I don’t like the situation, so I’ll show you.’”

The defense

She appeared to be responding to Van Ravenhorst’s allocution before sentencing, when Van Ravenhorst apologized for her actions, then went on to say:

“At the time, I was working in an environment that had become extremely difficult for me. I experienced significant workplace stress, conflicts and behavior that I perceived as bullying and emotionally harmful,” she said, adding that she struggled with how to handle the circumstances.

“I understand now that difficult circumstances do not excuse my actions, and I wish I had sought more appropriate help and handled the situation very differently,” Van Ravenhorst said.

“This experience has forced me to take a serious look at my decisions, how I respond to stress and conflict and the importance of asking for help … before a situation reaches a point where I make harmful choices,” she said.

‘Criminal behavior’

Horner wasn’t swayed.

“You made decisions over a course of time that impacted your employer, the remainder of the employees of Thompson Sanitation and, quite frankly, the greater community that Thompson Sanitation serves – because you helped yourself to $84,000 that wasn’t yours,” the judge said.

She questioned what Van Ravenhorst called “built-up frustration over the course of three years,” and not getting support from her employer, “and your decision was to help yourself to what was not yours,” Hormann said.

“That is purely criminal behavior. You just took what you weren’t entitled to in a vindictive nature, because you didn’t like what was going on in your work environment,” she said. “You had many other options … but instead, you decided, ‘I’m going to violate the trust of my employer. I’m going to impact my employer’s livelihood, as well as my coworkers’ livelihoods.’”

Hormann told Van Ravenhorst she saw “some flawed thinking … you making a comment in (the presentence investigation) that you’re not worried about your financial situation… You’re not worried about your finances when you know you have an $84,000 restitution payment to make?”

Instead, the judge said, “I look at your assets; you purchased a 2026 vehicle, so you haven’t learned from your behavior because you’re continuing to live this life of luxury.”

The letters of support for Van Ravenhorst were essentially dismissed:

“Your husband, of course he’s going to be supportive. Why wouldn’t he be? He’s benefited from your theft,” Hormann said.

Van Ravenhorst’s new employer, a business in Owatonna, also wrote a letter of support, prompting Hormann to say, “I question whether or not they have the whole version of what went on, but at the end of the day, they support you.

“I just don’t see that there’s a lot of sincere remorse for your actions,” the judge said. “I think you’re sorry that you got caught; I think you’re sorry that you have to pay the money back, and I don’t think you understand the full impact of your behavior and your actions on Thompson Sanitation.”

Reactions

Van Ravenhorst was taken from the courtroom by a deputy to be booked into the Freeborn County Adult Detention Center.

She was granted work release.

Following the sentencing, owner Franklin Thompson and his wife Christy said they were pleased with the outcome.

“I was a little bit taken aback by the hostile work environment (claims), which were completely false,” Franklin Thompson said. “She was the problem, and the judge saw through that one.”

In fact, he said, the three other women in the workplace “were sitting in court with us today, so…”

During his victim impact statement, Thompson said “years from now, people will remember Thompson Sanitation employed someone who stole a significant amount of money from the company. They won’t remember the name of the employee who committed the crime and are unlikely to remember the sentence imposed, unless it’s severe enough…”

He requested the maximum sentence, “and let’s raise some eyebrows and show people that, ‘hey, look, if you’re thinking about ripping off your employer, these are the consequences.’”

Now, the couple said, they will pursue their civil case against Van Ravenhorst. They claim the thefts began almost immediately after she was hired in 2021.

The statute of limitations for general theft is three years; though the investigation began in November 2024, she was not formally charged until January 2026.

The criminal case

It began when a detective with the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office spoke with Thompson about the discovery of check forgeries.

He said Van Ravenhorst was hired as an administrative assistant in June 2021, and was given day-to-day access to the company’s information and systems, including payroll and check-writing.

The owner said things “eventually became negative and (Van Ravenhorst) ran off a few of the other employees in the office,” and she would not let anyone touch her desk, come close to her desk, or help her in any way with the accounting of the business.

In May 2024, the owner called a company meeting to tell Van Ravenhorst that he was hiring someone to assist her.

Van Ravenhorst reportedly “stormed out of the meeting, berated the owner and swore at him.” A few days later, she asked for her job back, but was denied.

After her departure, discrepancies were found in the accounting and payroll systems.

According to the criminal complaint, the issues went back to when Van Ravenhorst started her employment at Thompson Sanitation, and included overpayments on (payroll) checks, taxes deducted improperly and voided checks that still cleared the business account.

Over the years she was employed, court documents say, Van Ravenhorst should have deposited about $58,000 in cash sales, but the deposits for that time were only $9,500.

The criminal charges follow a civil lawsuit that was filed in October.

The civil case

In that case, she and her husband Timothy Van Ravenhorst were both named; he is accused of knowing about the alleged thefts.

That complaint outlines more of the details.

Within months of being hired and given day-to-day access to the company’s information and systems, including payroll and check-writing, Kari Van Ravenhorst allegedly began issuing herself two checks per pay period, but presenting just one to the manager for approval.

The document says she continued to regularly issue herself two checks per pay period – or more – until August 2023. At that time, Van Ravenhorst reportedly issued two checks to herself, one for $10,000 and the other for about $1,500.

In July 2023, Ravenhorst reportedly asked for a $4,000 “loan” to buy a vehicle, promising Thompson she would pay the business back through payroll deductions from her own wages. She did not.

August 2023 was also when Van Ravenhorst began giving herself “bonuses” ranging from $500 to more than $2,000.

Van Ravenhorst is also accused of increasing her hourly wage to inflate her payroll deposit, but would make adjustments in the accounting software presented to her manager.

According to the complaint, she also falsified her vacation days and did not pay all tax withholdings on her stolen money.

Court documents say Van Ravenhorst also “demanded” to work at Thompson’s Austin location, presumably because the location is “cash-heavy.” The manager believes she was siphoning cash from the Austin site throughout her entire employment, the lawsuit says.

The suit claims she used money from the alleged thefts to purchase a new home in February 2024; the new home was about $70,000 more expensive than the home the couple sold.

The couple have filed counterclaims, admitting to some of the basic facts and denying the criminal allegations.

Kari Van Ravenhorst claims she was “bullied, harassed and undermined through false statements about her work,” and said the “severe, pervasive conduct interfered with her ability to perform her job.”

The manager failed to investigate or discipline the offending employees, her counterclaim says, which resulted in emotional distress and economic harm to Kari Van Ravenhorst.

Timothy Van Ravenhorst’s counterclaim says he did not “know of, participate in, ratify, benefit from or conceal any alleged theft or misappropriation of funds.”

He is seeking damages for abuse of process and defamation.

The civil case has a pre-trial date of Nov. 10, also before Hormann, with a trial date of Dec. 23.