Bailey

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced today that Dana Manley, 53, was convicted of stealing in connection with a charitable organization she founded to honor her daughter who died of cancer. The group, Sydney’s Soldier’s Foundation Always, had to disband due to Manley’s embezzlement.

“I am proud of the work my Consumer Protection Unit did to secure a conviction in this case,” Bailey said. “Results like these send the message that deceitful behavior will never be acceptable in Missouri as long as I am your Attorney General.”

Manley and fellow mothers of children who had died of cancer started the organization to provide “bucket list” trips to children with terminal cancer. The other moms, serving as board members, were alerted to an overdrawn account, and began an internal investigation during which Manley admitted to the theft. The board notified the Attorney General’s Office, which conducted a subsequent investigation. The investigation uncovered several more accounts that were unknown to the board and that Manley was using to conceal her embezzlement activity. During a plea hearing, Manley admitted that she used at least $25,000 of donations earmarked for children with deadly cancer for her own personal use.

Per the terms of the plea agreement, Manley paid back $5,000 at sentencing to a family for whom the organization raised money but who did not receive any funds due to Manley’s theft. The Court sentenced Manley to serve five years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.