Kelli Lepler, (Hall County Department of Corrections, Courtesy)
GRAND ISLAND – District Judge Andrew Butler ordered Jan. 8 that Kelli Lepler of Grand Island undergo a competency evaluation to determine if she’s competent to stand trial.
A psychiatrist from the Lincoln Regional Center will complete the evaluation at the Hall County Jail. Lepler’s attorneys are Jeff Loeffler and Edwina Heise, deputy Hall County public defenders. The prosecutor is Deputy Hall County Attorney Matthew Boyle.
The judge ordered that the psychiatrist turn in a report by Jan. 20. A status hearing will be at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 21. Lepler’s jury trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 23.
Lepler is accused of accepting payments for cemetery headstones but not installing the headstones.
Lepler, 47, owned a Grand Island cemetery headstone business, Monument Advisors, and is accused of receiving $258,404 from 43 customers.
She is charged in Hall County District Court with 46 counts of theft by deception, of which 38 charges are felonies and eight charges are misdemeanors.
The purchases were made between Jan. 8, 2020, and Feb. 9, 2023.
