DuBoistown woman jailed for stealing from trust fund
By MARK MARONEY mmaroney@sungazette.comA DuBoistown woman who was sentenced to one year in Lycoming County Prison Friday for depleting nearly $200,000 from a woman's trust fund said she was not aware she was doing wrong.
Judy A. Lach, 52, of 136 Valley St., said she was sorry for what happened as administrator of the fund of the late Mary Jane Evenden but she believed she was entitled to the woman's estate.
Lach pleaded guilty in May to a charge of theft for stealing $196,000 from the fund.
She told Judge Nancy L. Butts she made payments to the woman's son and daughter-in-law, Tom and Debra Evenden, the beneficiaries, and thought that she was doing what she was supposed to do.
Lach was Mary Jane Evenden's cleaning lady and the two developed a friendship until it became so close that Evenden entrusted her to administer her trust fund.
When Evenden died, Lach received some money for her services, about $20,000 decreed in the will, but Lach wanted more. She paid the woman's son and daughter-in-law $700 a month, but wrote much larger checks to herself, according to Tom Waffenschmidt, the Evendens' attorney.
By 2006, Lach told the Evendens she would pay them $700 every quarter.
Waffenschmidt said he wrote to Lach, asking her for a full accounting and to open the books.
"She never responded, avoided all inquiries," Waffenschmidt said.
Litigation ensued and state police began to investigate, he said.
"I can't believe you did not know what you were doing," Butts said.
Butts sentenced Lach to seven years intermediate punishment, one year in prison, made her eligible to be on prison Pre-Release in six months and ordered 100 hours' community service.
Butts ordered Lach to either sell property or find a way to get the full restitution to the Evendens.
"She is sorry," Lach's attorney, Roan Confer said after the hearing. "She met with police and she didn't know."
Confer said Butts' prison sentence was fair, but he contended his client never had so much as a speeding ticket.
"Unfortunately, under trust law, you can't take money unless you are a beneficiary. She did not know that and she thought she was entitled," Confer said.
No comments:
Post a Comment