Woman gets prison term
for theft from employer
The former operations manager at Keystone Paper and Packing Inc. in Olyphant was sentenced to spend six to 23 months in the Lackawanna County Prison for stealing more than $100,000 from the company over nearly five years.
Lori A. McCarthy, 51, of 1743 Monroe Ave., Dunmore, wrote an apology to the company, which she admitted treated her like family. The familial relationship didn't stop her from writing 49 unauthorized checks to herself between October 2007 and May of last year, according to a criminal complaint. The checks ranged from $450 to $5,940.
Ms. McCarthy forged the signature of Keystone President andCEO Mark Suchter on the checks to herself, but wrote the names of businesses Keystone dealt with on check ledgers to hide her crime, according to the complaint. She immediately resigned and began repaying the money, her lawyer told the court.
An incredulous Judge Vito P. Geroulo told Ms. McCarthy none of the evidence presented to him explained why she betrayed the familial relationship.
Ms. McCarthy said she was "ashamed of myself."
"There's no excuse," she said.
The judge pressed the question, telling her she had a good job at a good salary at a company where she worked for many years.
"Why?" he asked.
Ms. McCarthy said she had recently gotten divorced and had the responsibility of caring for elderly parents.
"Everything fell on my shoulders with my family," she said.
"You did this to people who treated you like family," Judge Geroulo said.
She didn't even realize how much she had taken "and then when they told me, it was just a shock," she said.
The company was out $114,598.54.
Ms. McCarthy offered to repay at the rate of $50 a week. The judge took her up on that offer, ordering full restitution and setting the repayment schedule at $200 a month, but also added the prison time.
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@ timesshamrock.com