Theft sentence upheld for former manager of Carmichaels Borough
The state Superior Court upheld the sentence and court-ordered reparations of a Carmichaels woman who stole nearly $75,000 from the borough she managed.
Brandi Wydo-Streit, 45, pleaded guilty to the thefts from Carmichaels and was sentenced to one to two years in prison and five years of probation in 2018.
She was additionally ordered to repay $24,965 to the borough, which represents the amount officials were unable to recoup through the borough’s bonding company. A judge also ordered Wydo-Streit to make $15,430 in reparations for a forensic audit the borough had to undertake once the thefts were discovered.
In her appeal, Wydo-Streit contended she received a harsher sentence than others accused of similar crimes in Greene County.
Superior Court Judge Kate Ford Elliott, who wrote the opinion for the three-judge panel, found there was nothing to show that was the case.
The panel also rejected an argument that repaying the audit cost shouldn’t be considered “additional reparations” for the borough.
Wydo-Streit’s attorney contended because officials didn’t regularly audit the borough’s finances, requiring her to repay the $15,430 cost was improper.
Ford Elliott called the argument “disingenuous.”
The opinion noted Greene County Judge Lou Dayich found that while the borough wasn’t diligent, that didn’t alleviate Wydo-Streit’s obligation “to take some measure of financial responsibility for the direct consequences of her criminal conduct.”
Police alleged Wydo-Streit wrote herself 89 additional paychecks between 2012 and 2016, using the money to pay for personal needs.
Officials first learned there was a problem when a borough police officer tried to cash his paycheck and learned the bank had frozen the borough’s payroll account. When he asked Wydo-Streit, then acting as borough manager, about the issue, she told him she’d stolen the money, authorities said.
During a 2018 sentencing hearing, a borough councilman said the loss of funds forced officials to forego street paving for two years and necessitated the reduction of some employees’ hours.