The Boonville woman who was the longtime executive director of a non-profit organization admitted in Cooper County court Monday, Apr. 13 to stealing from that organization.

52-year-old Jennifer Jill Waibel changed her plea to guilty on the charge that she stole nearly $50,000 from Unlimited Opportunities, the sheltered workshop in Cooper County where she had been executive director from 2011 until 2023. Court documents accused Waibel of making several purchases at retailers in Boonville and Columbia in the summer of 2023, as well as a Walmart in Georgia. The purchases totaled over $25,000. Waibel was also accused of making another $12,000 of purchases on a separate credit card, and making a $12,000 withdrawal from the group’s money market account. Waibel was dismissed by the group in September 2023, but agreed the following December to reimburse the group in exchange for a non-disparagement agreement.

Waibel’s sentencing hearing is set for the afternoon of May 22. She’s facing similar charges in Boone County after she was accused of making fraudulent purchases with a credit card she obtained after she was employed by a Columbia firm. The next hearing in that case is scheduled for May 4.