Friday, August 9, 2002
MERCER, Pa. -- A Fredonia woman will serve six to 24 months in jail for squandering thousands of dollars that she was supposed to administer as executrix of an estate.
Leslie Dilley, 31, of Mill Street, was given the term by Judge Michael Wherry in Common Pleas Court Thursday for misapplication of entrusted property, a misdemeanor.
According to the police report, she was executrix of the estate of John Mechling. In August 2000, she sold a business that had belonged to Mechling and took the proceeds from the sale and opened a bank account. Although she was supposed to pay the estate's outstanding debts and divide the remainder with her sister, Tracy Mechling, Dilley wrote $7,823 in checks to herself, wrote $2,078 in checks to her boyfriend, used $1,125 to improve her residence and paid $1,491 to other people.
She also failed to pay $15,249 in estate debt and removed household items from the estate and kept them as her own.
Also Thursday, Juan Houston Jr., 23, of Fruit Avenue, Farrell, was placed on one year's probation for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor, for operating a 1996 Dodge Neon when he knew or believed it had been stolen.
Floyd McConnell, 62, of Market Street, Meadville, was also placed on a year's probation for unauthorized use of an motor vehicle, a misdemeanor, for driving a 1991 Plymouth Acclaim owned by Lucas Motors, Inc., Mercer, without the consent of the owner.