A former employee of the Wayne County Tax Claim Bureau will spend as long as a year and a half behind bars for stealing more than $11,000 in tax payments.
Jeannie Marie Brooks, 37, of Prompton, pleaded guilty to one count of felony forgery and one count of misdemeanor theft on Jan. 22. President Judge Raymond Hamill sentenced her Thursday to serve between 45 days and 18 months at the Wayne County Correctional Facility followed by 100 hours of community service, the Wayne County district attorney's office said. The sentence also calls for a DNA sample and the $250 required to pay for it. She also must obtain a full-time job upon her release from jail.
In the fall, the county tax claim director noticed the amount of money the office was collecting was different from the amount of money deposited into its account.
In the probe that followed, investigators discovered more discrepancies in transactions handled by Ms. Brooks from April to July. Ms. Brooks was formally arraigned in Wayne County Count on Oct. 17.
Before her guilty plea, Ms. Brooks was facing 59 charges, many of them felony counts. All but one were dropped as part of the plea agreement.
Ms. Brooks paid back $11,787.35 prior to sentencing.
Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, @jkohutTT on Twitter