Retired clerk of Kansas town admits to stealing taxpayer money, must pay back $150,000

The retired clerk of a southeast Kansas town has admitted to stealing from taxpayers.

Carole Sue Coker, 70, of Oronogo, Missouri, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of mail fraud, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said in a news release. Coker admitted in her plea that she took money from payments made to the city.

As part of her plea deal, Coker agreed to pay more than $150,000 in restitution. Sentencing is schedule for Dec. 19, and Coker faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

Coker retired in October 2013 after serving as the town’s clerk for about 40 years. Caney is a city of about 2,000 people in Montgomery County.

When she was indicted in October 2018, a grand jury alleged that she operated a so-called check-for-cash embezzlement scheme. Investigators said that Coker would take cash payments for water bills and other bills owed to the city, then kept a portion for herself. She would conceal the theft by not entering all of the checks issued to the city in the accounting system, making it appear as though the books balanced.

The resulting monthly bank statements were delivered by the U.S. Postal Service, leading to the mail fraud charge. She was also indicted on a count of bank fraud.

This story was originally published October 3, 2019 at 3:34 PM.