Ex-county employee is guilty of theft

An assistant prosecutor said he will recommend
incarceration.

WARREN — A former county employee who stole $6,690 has pleaded guilty to theft in office and agreed to pay back the missing money.

Stella Coletti, 36, of Deer Creek Trail, Cortland, appeared Thursday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to enter the plea. Judge John M. Stuard will sentence her in about a month after the county’s Adult Probation Department conducts a presentence investigation.

Chris Becker, an assistant county prosecutor, said he will recommend that she be incarcerated, either in the county jail or prison. She pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony, punishable up to five years in prison or probation.

Coletti resigned her job as a deputy clerk in the clerk of courts office, auto title division, shortly after officials were alerted to a possible problem.

U.S. Bank contacted the Auto Title Department in the county administration building July 11, asking why one of its customers had not received an auto title for a check that already had cleared.

Clerk of Courts Karen Infante Allen determined that the check had cleared the clerk’s bank account June 20, but there was no paperwork in the auto title office corresponding with the check.

The check had been deposited on a day when Coletti, a 17-year employee, had been serving as acting bookkeeper in place of one who was on sick leave.

Other paperwork was discovered showing Coletti was responsible for various other discrepancies involving sales tax and title fees dating back to April 2006.

An investigation conducted by the Ohio Attorney General’s office, Ohio State Highway Patrol, clerk of courts officials and the county sheriff’s department showed that some thefts in February 2007 were as small as $60.25 but had risen to $2,196 in July 2007.

Investigators said Coletti’s drawer balanced each day because she exchanged checks for cash in the same dollar amount and created false refunds.