Girard woman to be sentenced in March on theft charge, must make restitution

YOUNGSTOWN — A 50-year-old Girard woman pleaded no contest to a reduced theft charge and agreed to make $15,000 in restitution to the estate of an elderly businessman whose money she stole.

Carol C. Spano entered her plea today before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. He found her guilty and will sentence her at 8:30 a.m. March 16.

Spano, of Pinecrest Road, was indicted last June on an aggravated theft charge, a first-degree felony offense, under which she would have faced three to 10 years in prison.

The indictment accused her of stealing more than $100,000, which is consistent with an accountant’s finding that she fraudulently took $117,133 from Fred D. Hightower while she worked in his Boardman insurance agency.

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