By Dan Hust
MONTICELLO — November 5, 2010 — County officials confirmed this week that a former Probation Department employee has been arrested and charged with stealing from the county.
District Attorney Jim Farrell said 40-year-old Leigh Shaddock of Liberty was arrested on September 2 and charged with grand larceny in the third degree and falsifying business records in the first degree, both felonies.
According to Farrell, Shaddock had been employed as an administrative assistant at the county’s probation office in the Government Center since May 2006.
“She was not an officer,” he explained.
She voluntarily left the job on good terms on June 25 of this year, Farrell added.
Thereafter, “there were some irregularities noted by Probation,” he recalled.
Monies that are routinely collected by the administrative assistant – i.e., restitution and administrative fees – were missing, and so the DA’s Office, the Probation Department and the State Police launched an investigation.
Farrell alleged Shaddock made false entries and omitted others while receiving and accounting for fees due to the department – thus the falsifying records charge.
Farrell said the third-degree grand larceny charge means Shaddock is accused of stealing more than $3,000 but less than $50,000.
Citing the ongoing investigation, Farrell said he did not yet have an exact figure of what was allegedly stolen, but he added that he does not think it will exceed that $50,000 threshold.
“They’re still doing an internal audit [at Probation],” he explained.
Shaddock was arraigned in front of Thompson Town Justice Martin Miller and remanded to Sullivan County Jail on $2,500 bail, which she posted.
Farrell expects the case will eventually go to a grand jury. If convicted, Shaddock could face up to seven years in prison on the larceny charge and up to four years on the falsifying records charge.
In the meantime, County Manager David Fanslau said the Probation Department’s auditor has instituted new financial procedures, with more possibly coming.
“We’re looking at future controls,” Fanslau affirmed, including having restitution payments made at the Sheriff’s Office instead.