The former accounts payable manager for Dunwoody Baptist Church pleaded guilty Friday to bilking her employer of nearly $144,000.
DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Tangela Barrie handed Patricia Padgett a 20-year sentence, with three years to serve in prison and the remainder on probation, court officials said.
Barrie also ordered Padgett to repay $143,955 to the church after the defendant pleaded guilty to four counts of theft by taking.
“We are encouraged by the outcome of this case and by the prospect that the parishioners of Dunwoody Baptist Church will recoup a portion of the funds stolen by Patricia Padgett,” DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James said Friday in a statement.
Padgett, 54, was responsible for collecting revenue from the church’s various activities, including offerings, daycare tuition and fitness center payments, and for depositing the money into a church bank account.
Between 2006 and 2009, prosecutors said, the woman skimmed money from the deposits she made for the church, putting incremental amounts of the cash into her own bank account. Padgett was arrested in February 2010.
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