A local process server has been bound over for trial on charges alleging he stole more than $63,000 in legal settlements from civil lawsuits.

49-year-old Garry Joe Flanary is charged with 12 counts of embezzlement by a public official. A hearing was held earlier this week in 53rd district Court in Howell and a judge found there was enough evidence to send the case to trial. Flanary was then bound over to Livingston County Circuit Court on the charges.

According to court records, Flanary, who is a special deputy with the local courts system, kept money from legal settlements that was supposed to be distributed to people involved in civil lawsuits. Flanary is said to have approached those that owed the money and produced a badge while identifying himself as an officer of the court. He then allegedly kept the money for himself instead of delivering it to the parties to which the money was owed. Testimony shows that Flanary several times deposited the money into his personal bank account.

Future court dates for the case have not yet been set.