Rodeo queen jailed for embezzlement

BOISE, Idaho — A former rodeo queen is in jail after admitting she embezzled from her employer.

Chelsi Ann Horton, 23, of Kuna, Idaho, pleaded guilty to grand theft in November, taking more than $22,000 from King Concrete in nearby Nampa, Idaho. She was arrested in July before her reign as this year's Caldwell Night Rodeo queen ended in August.

While a bookkeeper at the concrete plant, she increased her pay from $9 to $18 an hour, paid herself for overtime she had not worked and deposited business checks into her personal bank account, prosecutor Kai Wittwer said.

The former Boise State University Bronco girl could have been sentenced to as many as 14 years in prison.

Judge Deborah Bail of Idaho's Fourth Judicial District Court sentenced Horton to seven years in prison Monday but suspended the sentence and granted probation, ordering Horton to spend six months in jail instead. She will be allowed to go to her job each day and return to jail in the evening.

Horton also has to repay her former employer.