Spring Mills woman sentenced for theft from employer

A Spring Mills woman charged with stealing more than $73,000 from her employer was sentenced to house arrest Monday at the Centre County Courthouse.

Kelly J. Lingle, 35, was charged with felony counts of theft and receiving stolen property in January after an investigation showed that she had been writing checks to herself through her employer Dreamstones Granite Supplier. The owner of Dreamstones reportedly had provided police with hundreds of pages of bank statements showing checks had been written from January 2014 through October 2016.

The reported amount taken had totaled more than $73,700.

Lingle admitted to police that she stole funds over three years time, the CDT reported, saying she “got in over her head and in life” and wanted to provide for her three children. According to court documents, she entered guilty pleas to the counts of theft and receiving stolen property on Oct. 2. A felony count of forgery was dismissed.

Lingle’s attorney, Jason Dunkle, told the court his client had “reasonable intentions,” but the situation had “gotten out of hand.” He also explained his client’s willingness to work with police and presented a check to the court for $5,000 to kick off the restitution process.

Lingle herself addressed the court, saying she was very sorry and had broken the trust of her co-workers, friends and family. She said she simply wanted to make things right and pay the money back.

She was sentenced by county President Judge Pamela Ruest to three months of house arrest followed by about seven years of probation. She must also provide full restitution to Dreamstones, pay the costs of prosecution and serve 40 hours of community service.

This story was originally published November 6, 2017 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Spring Mills woman sentenced for theft from employer."