Janetta Buttery

Introduction

Janetta Marie Buttery, 53, of Bennington, Kansas, is a serial embezzler: a former city clerk and bookkeeper who was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison in 2017 for stealing from both the town she served and a Salina real estate company, and who was indicted again in November 2026 on five counts of wire fraud and one count of interstate transfer of embezzled funds for allegedly embezzling more than $25,000 from yet another former employer . A federal grand jury in Topeka returned the new indictment, and the FBI is investigating the case .

Background Information

Buttery served as city clerk for Bennington, in north-central Kansas, from October 2014 to May 2016, and before that worked as secretary, bookkeeper and executive assistant to the owner of Realty Associates in Salina . In both jobs she had access to credit cards and financial records that prosecutors later said she used to divert money to herself and her family . The 2016-2017 cases were handled by the FBI and then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Rich Hathaway, announced by U.S. Attorney Tom Beall .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Indicted again after serving a prior federal sentence. The new indictment is an allegation; Buttery is presumed innocent on the new charges.

The first case surfaced while Buttery was still at Realty Associates: a criminal information filed in March 2016 alleged she embezzled more than $109,000 from the company, and in May 2016 she pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen funds, admitting she used her access to the company’s credit cards, bank accounts, books and records to divert company funds to herself, her mother and her husband . Court documents in the plea put the admitted embezzlement from the company at more than $79,000, taken to make payments on personal debts belonging to herself and family members .

A second case covered her conduct at the city: as Bennington’s clerk she had access to credit cards belonging to the city and the city’s Recreation Commission, and used them to make unauthorized payments totaling more than $75,000, leaving the position before the city discovered the crime . In March 2017 she was sentenced to a total of 16 months in federal prison in the two cases and ordered to pay $184,000 in restitution .

The November 2026 indictment charges her afresh: five counts of wire fraud and one count of interstate transfer of embezzled funds, for allegedly embezzling more than $25,000 from her former employer .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The 2017 sentence drew wire coverage: the Associated Press reported that the former clerk had been sent to prison for “embezzling more than $100,000 from a real estate company and bilking her town of more than $75,000” . The new indictment was reported the same day by Kansas stations KWCH and WIBW, each citing the federal grand jury’s return and the FBI’s continuing investigation . Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Debenham is prosecuting the new case .

Current Status

Buttery has been charged but not convicted on the 2026 indictment; the release notes that an indictment is merely an allegation and that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt . She has already served the 16-month federal sentence imposed in March 2017 along with the $184,000 restitution order from the two earlier cases . No arraignment date for the new charges had been announced in the coverage .

Impact on Their Career/Life

Buttery’s 2016-2017 prosecutions ended her careers as both a small-town clerk and a real-estate-office bookkeeper, and the new indictment — filed a decade after her first admitted embezzlement — restarts federal exposure she had already served time for . The pattern across all three cases is the same trusted-bookkeeper access turned to personal use, now charged as wire fraud rather than interstate transportation of stolen funds .

Sources

• “Kansas bookkeeper indicted for embezzling from employer” — U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Kansas / justice.gov, November 2026: source
• “Bennington woman charged with embezzlement” — KWCH / kwch.com, November 2026: source
• “Kansas bookkeeper indicted for embezzling from employer” — WIBW / wibw.com, November 2026: source
• “Former Bennington City Clerk Sentenced in Two Embezzlement Cases” — U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Kansas / justice.gov, March 2017: source
• “Woman Pleads Guilty To Embezzlement From Real Estate Firm in Salina” — U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Kansas / justice.gov, May 2016: source
• “Former Kansas town’s clerk gets prison time for embezzling” — AP News / apnews.com, March 2017: source