IP sentence given to former township secretary charged in theft
After paying back $140,000 that was stolen from Clinton Township, a former township secretary was sentenced to the county Intermediate Punishment Program on Wednesday.
Margaret Nelson, 54, of Saxonburg, was sentenced to 5 years in the program, with the first six months to be served on house arrest with electronic monitoring. That will be followed by 4 years of probation.
Nelson previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor access device fraud and theft by unlawful taking on May 2.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, “Nelson admitted to documenting misleading information in the township ledger. She admitted to stealing money from the township, but was unsure of the total amount stolen” as well as admitting to purchasing items on the township credit card for her personal use, indicating “it was a mistake, and that she intended to pay the money back.”
She was later fired by the township supervisors.
Read more about the case in the Eagle.
