A Somers man who is accused of stealing more than $20,000 from his employer has pleaded not guilty.

Jason Curtis Vote, 40, is charged with ongoing criminal activity, a Class B felony, and first-degree theft, a Class C felony. He pleaded not guilty in a written arraignment on March 27. He is scheduled to go to trial on June 7.

According to criminal complaints, between May and November 2021, Vote used one or more computer terminals at the Fort Dodge Sears Hometown Store to create receipts for sales transactions, then processed a return transaction from the fraudulent receipt, pocketing the money. Vote was an employee of the store at the time of the alleged crimes.

Vote is accused of completing the scam on 17 different occasions, collecting both cash and debits to a credit card totaling $20,770.95.