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A former Genola town clerk accused of stealing from the city waived her right to a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, and the judge scheduled her case for arraignment.
Traci Wright's attorney said she has not decided yet how she will plead at her July 15 arraignment. Attorney Michael Petro said he and the prosecution are trying to reach an agreement on how much money went missing during Wright's tenure as town clerk, and a plea deal may be in the works once they settle on a number.
"It's more of an accounting problem than anything else. It's just kind of verifying what funds are missing and trying to get to the bottom of that, as opposed to whether a crime was committed," Petro said. "As soon as we get the accounting done then I'm going to sit down with the prosecutor."
Petro said he expects to reach an agreement on the accounting within 30 days, which would be before Wright's scheduled arraignment.
Wright resigned in September after 12 years as town clerk and was charged in late January with 13 counts of misuse of public money, 13 counts of forgery and one count of theft. Deputy county attorney Ryan Peters said the charges cover the period from January 2006 to August 2007.
City officials have estimated that Wright may have taken as much as $240,000, but Peters indicated that the number could be as low as $65,000. Each of the 13 counts of misuse of public money represents at least $5,000, he said.
"I can't comment on whether there was more or less at this point," Peters said.
Petro said prosecutors transcribed some numbers incorrectly in the accounting summary they sent to the defense, and the summary included some checks that had nothing to do with Wright. The accounting is essentially correct, he said, though it does have some problems.
"When you consider the overall amount that's being alleged, they're minor problems," Petro said.
Inconsistencies in Genola's finances were discovered last year, and town officials asked the Utah County Attorney's Office to investigate. Wright was asked to resign when the financial discrepancies were discovered. Genola now employs two town clerks, one of whom spends about four hours a week reviewing records. The town also purchased software for more efficient record keeping.
• Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or
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