A former Troy clerk who pleaded guilty to stealing town funds has repaid the embezzled money.

Kathy Mattingly, 57, repaid the town $18,154.28 as part of her guilty plea, which she entered Tuesday in Waldo County Superior Court.

Mattingly was arrested in June after she confessed to the embezzlement during an interview with police. Her sentencing has been delayed while the state and the defense reach an agreement on sentencing terms.

Deputy District Attorney Eric Walker said the state has proposed that Mattingly serve 90 days of a three-year prison sentence with a year of probation.

Mattingly’s attorney, Nathan Bell, said Mattingly has not agreed to the proposed sentence yet and could contest it. He said Mattingly is very ill and because of that, jail time might not be appropriate.

Sentencing is expected to take place late this month or in early January. The restitution money is being processed by the district attorney’s office and eventually will be deposited in a restitution account and given to the town of Troy, according to Walker.

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Sharon Moody, Troy’s treasurer and secretary, said in a larger community the missing money would not have as much of an effect as it could in Troy, which is home to about 1,000 residents and has a $526,000 budget this year.

“Due to the cut backs from the government, $20,000 makes a difference. It keeps the cash flow in a better position,” she said. “We’re pleased she admitted her guilt, but we also feel that she should be punished as well.”

Moody previously retired from her job at the Town Office and was rehired to sort out the budget after Mattingly resigned in March. She said town officials will be glad to get the money back and move on from the incident.

“We’re just wanting it to be over and have some closure,” she said.

Bell said Mattingly took full responsibility for the charges, but said she disagreed with the state’s allegations that she took the money because of a gambling problem. He also said outside circumstances contributed to her taking the money.

“She was under duress,” he said, though he wouldn’t elaborate other than to say it wasn’t relevant to explain further.

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Mattingly was arrested in June after she confessed to writing checks to herself from the town and keeping some of the money when residents paid the town in cash.

The thefts first were reported to the sheriff’s office May 6 after selectmen found discrepancies in the records during an internal audit and discovered that about $18,000 was missing, according to police. Town officials told police that Mattingly was their first suspect.

Fifty-seven cases of embezzlement were reported in Maine in 2012, one case more reported than in 2011, according to the Maine Unified Crime Report. Information for 2013 is not yet available, according to Maine’s Uniform Crime Reporting Division.

Kaitlin Schroeder — 861-9252kschroeder@centralmaine.com


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