Clerks in 'small, struggling' Missouri town embezzled more than $600K for gambling, restaurants

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

Clerks in 'small, struggling' Missouri town embezzled more than $600K for gambling, restaurants: authorities

The former city clerk and assistant city clerk of a small Missouri town embezzled more than $600,000 and used the stolen money to gamble, pay their rent and taxes and dine out, federal law enforcement offiicals said.

Former City Clerk Maureen Woodson and Assistant City Clerk Donna Thompson, who served in Flordell Hills and lived together in nearby Florissant, stole the money by wiring funds and writing about 614 checks to themselves to the tune of about $663,604, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.

The women are accused of forging the signatures of the mayor and the city treasurer on the checks, which they used to gamble in person and online, according to a plea.

Less than 10 miles from St. Louis, Flordell Hills has a population of 724 people and was described by the attorney's office as "a small, struggling city" with an annual budget is $400,000. More than half of the population lives below the poverty line.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/clerks-in-small-struggling-missouri-town-embezzled-more-than-600k-for-gambling-restaurants-authorities/ar-AA17fHkd

The city’s former clerk, Maureen Woodson, 68, on Monday pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud. She admitted to stealing $487,673 from the city.

Each of those charges carries up to a 20-year prison term, a $250,000 fine, or both, according to her plea agreement. She will also be ordered to repay the stolen money.

However, federal sentencing guidelines recommend she receive 27-33 months in prison. She will be sentenced May 16.

Her co-defendant, former assistant clerk 76-year-old Donna Thompson, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to the same charges as Woodson, mail and wire fraud, and will be sentenced a day after Woodson on May 17. She admitted to stealing $159,903 and will also be ordered to repay that money along with whatever fine is imposed at sentencing.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/ex-flordell-hills-officials-plead-guilty-to-embezzling-647-000-from-city/article_a1574fb8-17e3-5a4f-b766-d105a1a4e929.html

[blm]

1. That is obscene.

[blue neen]

2. How sad for the people of that small town.

I hope the courts make them pay it back somehow.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

3. age 68 and 76.... don't think the city is going to be paid back

[blue neen]

5. I'm sure you're right.

I didn't notice their ages.

[paleotn]

4. Conservative land.....

Where "Christian family values" rule.

[Cracklin Charlie]

6. Why do they always make parts of St. Louis sound like small towns?

They did the same when Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson.

St. Louis is a HUGE city, that stretches for 50 miles, maybe more, west of the Missouri River.

Flordell Hills is a municipality within a giant city.

[ZZenith]

8. Flordell Hills, MO - population 822

City limits are less than 2,000 x 2,000 feet.

That’s a tiny municipality regardless the size of its neighbors.

But I get where you’re coming from.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. The Population Of St. Louis Metro....

...is double the entire lower third of Illinois.
Agreed that it's certainly not a small town. It's a half-million more than Cincinnati metro.

[RockRaven]

7. On one hand I understand the "once you start, you can't stop at one/it gets easier" thing, but

I'm still astonished at how brazen some people can be. Six hundred different checks amounting to 1.5X the city's entire annual budget?

[dem4decades]

9. Hard to believe no one caught on sooner. There was a mayor?

[JuJuChen]

11. they look innocent enough

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[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

12. they work AND live together. crooked duo