Church Bookkeeper Gets 3 Years For Stealing $129K
SANTA ANA (AP) — The ex-bookkeeper of a California church has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for stealing $129,000.
Orange County prosecutors originally charged 37-year-old Elyse Marie Kennedy with 154 felony counts of forgery with sentencing enhancements for embezzling money from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Tustin. If convicted at trial, she faced up to 107 years in prison.
It wasn't a sophisticated crime: She wrote 154 checks to herself.
In a plea deal Thursday, the Santa Ana woman pleaded guilty to two felony counts of forgery. She was sentenced to two years, eight months in prison. A restitution hearing is set for June 24.
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