Former Waco home improvement company employee sentenced to deferred probation in felony theft case
WACO, Texas (KWTX) - A former employee of a Waco home improvement company was placed on deferred probation Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to stealing $60,000 worth of flooring materials.
Judge Susan Kelly of Waco’s 54th State District Court approved Melvin Maclin’s plea agreement, placed him on 10 years’ deferred probation and ordered him to make $60,000 in restitution to his former employer, DesignCo., 5506 Franklin Ave.
Maclin pleaded guilty in August to third-degree felony theft and was back in court Wednesday for sentencing. In deferred probation cases, defendants are subject to the full range of punishment if they fail to meet the terms and conditions of probation but can avoid a felony conviction if they complete probation.
Maclin’s attorney, J.R. Vicha, said the plea agreement was a “fair outcome” as long as Maclin can pay back the money.
“The victims get made whole and he avoids a conviction and avoids prison, so I think it’s fair for everybody,” Vicha said.
Maclin was arrested last year on a second-degree felony charge of theft of more than $150,000 after an investigation by company officials showed Maclin and an alleged accomplice stole 118,450 square feet of flooring materials valued at $207,288 from January 2024 to August 2024.
Under the terms of Maclin’s plea bargain, prosecutors reduced the charge to a third-degree and significantly cut the value of the merchandise Maclin and an alleged accomplice stole from more than $200,000 to $60,000.
The McLennan County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the theft charge against the co-defendant earlier this year, officials said.
Kelly warned Maclin if he didn’t pay the restitution, he would be back in court facing up to 10 years in prison.
“That’s a lot of money,” the judge said.
According to arrest records, company officials told Waco police that Maclin pretended to have documentation for pallets of flooring “for the same customer usually on a Friday or Saturday when no managers were working, but no money would change hands.”
An arrest affidavit alleges Maclin would load a trailer with pallets of flooring and the other man would drive it to Dallas, “where it was believed to be sold by him.”
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