Joe Pyrah - Daily Herald | Posted: Tuesday, September 9, 2008 11:00 pm
A former Genola town clerk pleaded guilty Tuesday to multiple counts of forgery and misuse of public funds.
Traci Wright also presented a check for $104,000 in restitution for some of the money she was charged with taking illegally during her time with the town.
The guilty plea is part of a deal with prosecutors in which Wright admitted to three counts of forgery and three counts of misuse of public funds, third- and second-degree felonies respectively. Twenty-one other counts will be dropped.
The deal also calls for a reduction of sentencing, from possibly decades in prison to not more than 90 days in the Utah County Jail. It is expected that 70 of those days will be spent instead on the GPS monitoring program. The remaining 20 days are still up for debate, as prosecutors want straight jail time and Wright will argue against it at a sentencing hearing. That hearing will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 28.
Wright, who served as Genola's town clerk for 12 years, resigned her position in September 2007 after inconsistencies were discovered in the town's finances.
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.
The charges that are part of the plea deal (two per incident):
• Forging a signature on a city check for $5,145 and depositing it in her checking account
• Forging a signature on a city check for $6,120 and depositing it in her checking account
• Forging a signature on a city check for $7,140 and depositing it in her checking account