Pixabay
Pixabay
A former Pima town official must pay back $59,250 and spend two and a half years in state prison for allegedly embezzling from the town.
Graham County Superior Court Judge Michael Peterson sentenced Barbara Herreras, 52, to two and a half years in the Arizona Department of Corrections. That will be followed by five years’ probation, the Eastern Arizona Courier reported.
Herreras, former town clerk for Pima, pleaded guilty on March 31 to felony charges of attempted theft and forgery.
Pima’s accounting firm, Colby & Powell PLC, discovered money was missing from the town’s sewer fund from fiscal year 2017-18. The accounting firm made the discovery in a March 2018 audit for the city.
Graham County Sheriff’s Office reports Herreras resigned as town clerk in that same month instead of termination after she admitted the act to Town Manager Sean Lewis, the Eastern Arizona Courier reported.
The Sheriff’s Office investigation led to charges of theft, forgery and fraudulent schemes/artifices.
Under Herreras’ guilty plea, the theft charge was changed to modified theft and the fraudulent schemes charge was dropped.
Judge Peterson's sentence on April 22 ordered the first $17,000 of restitution Herreras must pay goes to the town, with its insurance company getting the rest.
Investigators are also looking into another $17,000 missing from its fiscal year 2016-17 books, the Eastern Arizona Courier reported. Pima already was reimbursed for the $59,250. If this $17,000 was stolen, another payment is expected.
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