Plans for a preliminary hearing in a case of theft from the city of Emporia have been canceled, now that a diversion agreement with former Underground Utilities supervisor Kevin Wiggins has been finalized.
Wiggins agreed to pay a $500 diversion fee and a combination of over $600 in fines, fees and court costs, but Judge Lee Fowler approved the prosecution’s request for the diversion agreement to be stayed for one year and for that action to be automatically dismissed after a year unless a revocation motion is filed with the court. Wiggins will have supervision from the Lyon County Attorney’s Office Diversion Coordinator. However, the charges are still listed as “in full force” and violating any term in the agreement will lead to criminal court proceedings resuming.
Wiggins, 51, was arrested April 26 after what Emporia Police Capt. Lisa Hayes called suspicious activity on city property earlier in the month. Hayes also says the investigation led to other parts of Kansas and as far away as Iowa.
Originally, Wiggins had one count of theft of property or services connected to the alleged theft of less than $1,500 between July 2023 and this past February, with an alternate count specifically for July 31, 2023 and connected to the alleged theft of less than $1,500 worth of scrap metal. Charges were amended to include two counts of theft of property or services involving less than $1,500 and three businesses over 72 hours between April 2023 and this past April 16.
