Former Gregory/Dallas chamber director owes $18K in restitution after embezzlement conviction

Oct. 30—BURKE, S.D. — The former Gregory/Dallas Chamber Director convicted of embezzlement charges in September has been ordered to pay $18,000 in restitution, court records indicate.

Trenton Seegers, who turns 26 on Oct. 31, was arrested and charged in January after an investigation found that he had withdrawn $7,800 from city accounts through various methods over a period of months, using it for personal expenses that included Amazon purchases, hotel stays and a spa day.

In total, he has been ordered to pay a total of $22,000; including $4,200 in court fees, various court fees and $5 in "victim compensation." Seegers has also received a five-year suspended sentence, and three years of probation, for a charge of grand theft between $5,000 and $100,000 — a Class 4 felony that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines. As of Oct. 30, court records indicate Seegers has paid $10,000 of his amount owed.

After Seegers announced his resignation at a Gregory City Council meeting on Dec. 20, 2022, board members from the Gregory/Dallas Chamber of Commerce noticed that Seeger had discrepancies in his finances, said Gregory Finance Officer Alex Hamilton. He had held the position for just under a year, Hamilton said. Seegers pleaded guilty on Sept. 12

Gregory is a town in south-central South Dakota, west of the Missouri River, located about 15 miles north of the Nebraska border.

Court documents indicate the city of Gregory provided financial records that show authorized and unauthorized purchases. The financial records shown in court documents include checking withdrawal slips, ATM withdrawals, written checks and credit card charges totaling $7,801.44.

On Jan. 6, 2023, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation received a report that Seegers had misused funds. Three days later, a DCI agent and local authorities interviewed Seegers, presenting the bank and credit card transactions.

Seegers admitted during the investigation that "he knew using the city of Gregory BankWest credit card was wrong for personal use," as detailed in a police report.