Former Vanderburgh County prosecutor’s finance director pleads guilty to wire fraud

EVANSVILLE — Regene Newman, the former Vanderburgh County prosecutor’s aide at the center of Courier & Press reporting on questionable expenditures by a nonprofit for at-risk youth, has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to wire fraud.

The offense is punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to court papers filed in the case. Newman is set to be sentenced on July 31 before U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young in Evansville’s federal courthouse.

Newman left then-Prosecutor Nick Hermann’s office in 2021, having been hired away from her job as finance director for the prosecutor’s office by Judge Wayne Trockman to serve as business director of community corrections. Newman was fired from that role in 2023.

That agency provides therapeutic services such as drug and alcohol treatment, financial literacy classes, electronic monitoring, a GED program and other services for sentenced defendants.

My Goals Inc., was a nonprofit for at-risk youth started in 2011 by then-Prosecutor Nick Hermann.

The Courier & Press reported in March 2023 that bank statements for My Goals showed more than $14,000 in 71 ATM and bank withdrawals and thousands of dollars in purchases at fast food restaurants, women’s clothing stores, hair salons and beauty retailers, convenience stores, pharmacies and supermarkets and in out-of-town shopping sprees.

Other questionable expenses included Liquor Liquor, $89.86; Premiere Tan in Darmstadt, $71.33; and purchases at DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse in Evansville and high-end Kate Spade Outlet in Edinburgh, Indiana.

Spanning March 2016 through March 2021, the Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union checking account statements coincided with a period during which Newman was finance director for the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office. She was also My Goals’ registered agent and secretary and a signer with Hermann to open the account at ETFCU, now Liberty Federal Credit Union.

After Newman’s departure, My Goals made no large cash withdrawals and expenditures on women’s clothing stores, beauty retailers, out-of-town shopping sprees and other questionable expenditures.

This is a developing story and will be updated.