In late 2015, the family of Stormy Lusk — who was shot and killed in June of that year — said they had yet to receive the over $5000 raised for her funeral via a GoFundMe campaign set up by Robin Faulkenberry. Faulkenberry was a friend of the victim, and contacted the family the day they found out about her murder to offer to set up the GoFundMe.
By August, Lusk’s family became concerned that Faulkenberry was giving them the runaround and was not turning over the funds raised via the generosity of 92 donors. Court documents show she spent the money on liquor, cigarettes and bar/club tabs.
This past March, Faulkenberry pleaded guilty to embezzlement, and faced up to five years in prison. Now, the case has reached its conclusion and Lusk’s family can begin to move on.
Robin Faulkenberry was sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday for stealing thousands of dollars in donations meant for the family of a murder victim.
Faulkenberry will also serve three years probation to complete her five year sentence. She pleaded guilty in March to embezzling more than $5,000 from a Go Fund Me account, that was supposed to be used to pay for the funeral of murder victim Stormy Lusk.
“We were already broken, and she just made that worse for us.” Lusk’s aunt Dana Taylor said in March when Faulkenberry pleaded guilty.
After it was clear Lusk’s family would not receive the GoFundMe monies, the Oklahoma State Victim’s Compensation Fund stepped up to pay for her funeral. Faulkenberry has reimbursed the fund in full.
The family was relieved by the sentence. “I can’t explain the emotions,” said Shera Tanner, Stormy Lusk’s mother. “There’s just not the words you can explain for the things we have gone through the last two years.”
Faulkenberry’s attorney James Gilmartin, however, felt the sentence was too extreme given the circumstances. “I understand the family is hurting in a lot of ways, but in this case, I felt like — if you look at other cases where the money was paid back like that — probably wouldn’t see as harsh of a sentence as we saw today,” he said.
