BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON -- The Ohio auditor's office has determined that a Middletown woman owes the state $8,217 that she admitted stealing last year while working in the Butler County Clerk of Courts office.
Lori Lutes, who was a motor-vehicle title department bookkeeper, pleaded guilty in July to theft in office, a felony.
She will be sentenced Sept. 22 by Common Pleas Judge Matthew Crehan. Judge Crehan has ordered that Ms. Lutes repay what she stole. Ms. Lutes had worked for the clerk's office for six years. She was in charge of depositing Butler County sales taxes on vehicles at the Hamilton branch of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
She deposited $600,000 to $800,000 monthly, county officials said.
The theft, which occurred between November and December, was discovered in December when someone who bought titles asked for research on a payment that had been made, police said.
Ms. Lutes also was president of her local union, Local 3984 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "She had a good work record as a cashier in our Middletown office," said Jerome Cook, clerk of courts administrator. "That's why we trusted her in that job."
The state auditor's office recommended that Clerk of Courts Cindy Carpenter make several changes in procedures, policies, employee duties and monitoring to safeguard against future thefts. Mr. Cook said the clerk of courts office began making most of the recommended changes after evidence of the theft surfaced.
