Melanie Barber Pleads Guilty to Stealing DA Office Funds

For ten years, Melanie Barber, 36, of Converse, La., ran a fraud scheme from inside the DeSoto Parish District Attorney’s Office, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for court programs and covering her tracks with falsified records.

Barber pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of mail fraud before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote. As the Issuing Worthless Checks/Arraignment Secretary from April 1, 2002 until her termination on February 25, 2014, she had access to sensitive financial operations — a trust she exploited relentlessly.

The DeSoto Parish DA’s Office ran diversion programs allowing participants to avoid court by paying fees via money order or cashier’s check made out to the office. Instead of processing them, Barber negotiated at least 580 of these money orders between 2004 and 2014. She cashed them at the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office, banks, and retailers by lying — claiming charges were dropped and she needed to issue refunds.

Employees believed her. They handed over cash. Barber pocketed it. She also took blank money orders from participants, rewrote them with her name as payee, and deposited them directly into her personal bank account. All told, she funneled thousands in public funds into her private life.

To hide the theft, Barber altered office records — marking cases as nolle pros, charges rejected, or paid when they were neither. The fraud went undetected for years, eroding public trust in a system built on accountability.

Now facing up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine, Barber’s sentencing is set for July 2, 2018. The FBI led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike O’Mara is prosecuting.