A Yolo County jury convicted 46-year-old Mary Ann Elizabeth Colby of West Sacramento on Friday of embezzling more than $16,000 from the Washington Unified School District in West Sacramento over a 15-month period.
The jury heard evidence that Colby, a former administrative assistant in the WUSD business office, was in charge of creating invoices for facility rentals. Colby would not log the invoices properly and then pick the checks up in the mail.
Even though it was outside of her job responsibilities, Colby would volunteer to make trips to the bank to deposit funds raised as part of fundraisers and for field trips for district schools. Once given the deposits, Colby would take cash in an equal amount to the checks she had collected.
Colby’s deception, which occurred between July 2012 and October 2013, was sophisticated and difficult to detect by the school district. The scheme was only discovered after she collected a check that the district’s bookkeeper was expecting. Once the bookkeeper saw a copy of the check, she recognized Colby’s handwriting and the district immediately launched an investigation.
After reviewing 21 deposits over the 15-month time period, a certified forensic accountant hired by the district was able to determine that Colby took at least $16,028.82, but that losses to the district could have risen to $60,000 during the time Colby was in charge of facilities rentals for the district.
Colby was convicted of felony grand theft, misappropriation of public funds, keeping a false account and fraudulently altering or falsifying an account.
“Public employees are trusted with using the public’s money for the public good,” said Deputy District Attorney Michael Vroman, who prosecuted the case. “They are held to the highest of standards. Ms. Colby is being held accountable for violating the trust the community placed in her.”
Colby is scheduled to be sentenced by Yolo Superior Court Judge Janine Beronio, who presided over the trial, on Nov. 22. Depending on the recommendation from the Yolo County Probation Department, Colby’s sentence could range from probation with up to a year in jail to up to three years in county prison.