Billy Joe Hiltzman
(PCSD file photo)
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — An ex-convict with a record of forgery in Payne and Pawnee counties has been given a four-year prison term for taking tools and making personal charges on a business credit card from 121 Property Management in Perkins in October of 2023.
Billy Joe Hiltzman, 44, of Maramec, who admitted embezzling more than $2,000 from his Perkins employer, was sentenced by Payne County Associate District Judge Michael Kulling last week in accordance with a plea agreement with the prosecution.
When Hiltzman finishes his prison term, he must serve six years of probation, undergo random drug tests, provide a DNA sample, make restitution and pay $600 in assessments plus a prosecution fee along with court costs, the judge ordered.
The embezzlement was reported on Oct. 13, 2023, by Kimberlee McKenzie, who said that her employee, Hiltzman “has been using the company credit card to make unauthorized transactions,” Perkins Police Officer Tyson Lester wrote in an affidavit.
McKenzie said that on Oct. 2, 2023, she gave Hiltzman two credit cards and two keys to a property building “for use to purchase only materials needed for the job site,” the affidavit said.
McKenzie said that she and her husband left Perkins on Oct. 3, 2023, for a vacation and returned on Oct. 9, 2023, “to find out that Hiltzman had not returned to work, nor had he returned the keys or credit cards,” the affidavit said.
McKenzie said that when she called Hiltzman, he said “his father had passed away, and he was handling business regarding the death,” the affidavit said.
“McKenzie stated that she did not call Hiltzman for around a week,” but when she did, he “would not answer the phone and that there were unauthorized transactions on her account on the dates she was on vacation,” the affidavit said.
“McKenzie stated she had already called the credit companies to freeze the cards and has attempted to call Hiltzman multiple times to get the keys returned and has had no luck contacting Hiltzman,” the affidavit said.
McKenzie provided a list of Hiltzman’s transactions totaling $1,274.85 at various businesses including Big Whiskey’s in Tulsa for $100.22 on Oct. 3, 2023, the affidavit said.
“McKenzie stated that she knows that Hiltzman carries a firearm,” according to the officer, who said Hiltzman is a convicted felon with warrants through Pawnee and Tulsa counties.
On Oct. 14, 2023, McKenzie notified the Perkins police officer that a Pawnee County sheriff’s deputy had retrieved her belongings from Hiltzman’s residence in Maramec, the affidavit said. “McKenzie stated she retrieved both cards, the keys and miscellaneous tools,” from the deputy, the affidavit said.
“McKenzie stated she did not know the tools were in Hiltzman’s possession and did not authorize him to take them from the business,” the affidavit said.
The combined value of the reported embezzled tools was $799, the affidavit said.
When the Perkins police officer contacted Hiltzman by phone, he agreed to come to the police department on Oct. 23, 2023, at 4:30 pm, but called that day to said he was stuck in Enid and could not make it, the affidavit said.
“Hiltzman stated that he had used the card, but it might have been an accident and that he told McKenzie that he would reimburse McKenzie’s money,” the affidavit said.
“Hiltzman stated he would be here to speak with me on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023,” but he did not show up or attempt to make contact, the Perkins officer wrote in his affidavit.
“Hiltzman has still not made contact with McKenzie to attempt to return any of the property or reimburse any funds,” the affidavit said.
According to court records, Hiltzman was arrested in Tulsa on Dec. 19, 2023, and ordered held in the Payne County Jail on $7,500 bail.
Hiltzman’s embezzlement sentence in Payne County was ordered to run concurrently to any sentence he receives in Tulsa County where he was charged in 2022 with being a felon in possession of a firearm, and any sentence he receives in Pawnee County where he was charged in 2023 with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to the state Department of Corrections, Hiltzman had been convicted in Pawnee County in 2014 of second-degree forgery in 2013 and given a four-year prison term, but only served about one year and two months. Hiltzman had also been convicted in Payne County in 2015 of second-degree forgery in 2010 and given a five-year prison term, but only served one year and three months, DOC records show.
