Tuesday, April 13, 1999
School secretary pleads guilty to thefts
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — A former Lakota Freshman School secretary pleaded guilty Mondayto theft in office for money she stole from the school and to grand theft for checks she stole from three estates while working as a paralegal.
Carol Snively stole $16,532 from the school last year, special prosecutor Steve Tolbert said.
The money came from student fees for athletics, band and cheerleading and from rebates vending machine companies provided to the school, he said at her plea hearing before Visiting Judge George Elliott in Butler County Common Pleas Court.
In 1996 and 1997, she stole more than $30,000 from three estates and $4,750 from her former employer, the law firm of Lyons & Lyons in West Chester, Mr. Tolbert said.
As part of the plea agreement, Ms. Snively, 37, of Monroe, must pay back all the money. She already has paid back the money stolen from Lyons & Lyons, said her attorney, Paris Ellis.
“She will make full restitution to the school and the estates,” Mr. Ellis said.
As a paralegal for former Hamilton attorney David A. Garretson, Ms. Snively stole $22,000 to $23,000 from the estate of Betty E. Borger, $9,420 from the estate of Lillian E. Highley and $1,246 from the estate of William H. White.
Mr. Garretson was sentenced to two years in prison in March 1998 after pleading no contest to charges that he stole $423,000 from an elderly client's estate.
Ms. Snively will be sentenced on June 24. She could receive up to 61/2 years in prison. Judge Elliott allowed her to remain free until her sentencing.
Ms. Snively made no statement at the hearing.
Mr. Ellis said emotional problems may have played a role in the thefts.
“She did things that were totally illogical,” he said.
She went to banks and cashed checks made out to Lakota Schools, Mr. Ellis said. She stole money from the Lyons & Lyons law firm by scratching out the firm's name on the check and writing her own name in its place, he said.
The school district discovered the theft on Jan. 27 when a Star Bank employee called administrators to say someone was trying to deposit school checks into a personal account.
“We're glad that it's resolved and that the plea agreement included restitution so the district will be repaid,” said Lakota Schools Treasurer Alan Hutchinson.
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