By LISA NICELY
nicely@crescent-news.com
PAULDING -- A former Paulding County employee has been sentenced to nearly 11/2 years in prison for stealing funds from a county agency.
Elizabeth Pessefall, 46, 10581 Road 87, Paulding, was sentenced to 17 months in prison for theft, a fourth-degree felony, by Judge J. David Webb when appearing in county common pleas court on Wednesday.
She was also ordered to pay $96,879.15 in restitution to the Paulding County Soil and Water Conservation District and to pay $3,235 to the state auditor's office for audit expenses.
She could have received up to 18 months in prison and a fine of $5,000 for the offense, under state law.
Pessefall, the former Paulding Soil and Water Conservation District administrator, apologized to her family and the community for her actions at the sentencing, according to Webb.
She had pleaded guilty to the charge on March 21.
Pessefall was indicted in February for stealing property or services totaling around $75,000 from the conservation district from Jan. 1, 2003-Feb. 13, 2008.
Pessefall had been with the Paulding Soil and Water Conservation District for approximately 20 years. She was placed on unpaid administrative leave from her post on Feb. 12 and was fired on March 11.
The state auditor's office reported that Pessefall stole approximately $86,102 from the district.
The state agency was requested to examine the district's financial records to determine the total amount of funds missing once local officials discovered discrepancies in those records.
According to court records, the district's board noticed that Pessefall's W-2 form showed she received more pay than what her annual salary was set at. For 2007, it showed her making $54,792, while she should have only been making approximately $38,272.
Also questioned were several invoices from the ditch maintenance account. Those totaled $7,800 and were made out to another person for various computer-related items.
None of the items had been received or had been ordered, according to officials.