By: Peter Blanchard
A woman accused of embezzling $247,000 from Tompkins County’s public transportation system will plead guilty to grand larceny, according to recently filed court documents.
Pamela Johnson, a former employee of Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, Inc., was arrested in April and accused of stealing nearly $250,000 from TCAT over a four-year period.
Investigators say Johnson, who worked as an accounts assistant for TCAT, created a fake vendor account and used it to funnel TCAT funds into her own private bank account.
She named the account JTD, though TCAT’s financial records show the company never provided services to TCAT.
In order to bypass approval from management, Johnson signed all the checks with a stamp that bore the signature of TCAT general manager Joe Turcotte. She also had access to TCAT systems through a VPN connection from home.
Johnson’s attorney filed a motion earlier this month in which he asked the judge to spare his client jail time, in part because a psychiatric evaluation found that she suffered from gambling addiction.
“Ms. Johnson pled guilty for one reason and one reason only: she has come to realize she has a problem and needs to get help, help she is now seeking,” defense attorney Frank Policelli wrote in court documents. “Johnson is a compulsive gambler, a pathological gambler, in layman’s terms, a gambling addict.”
Policelli also asked that Johnson be spared jail time in order to help her pay restitution, which she is “willing to make…and is in the process of selling her home in order to do so.”
Previous coverage: Court documents reveal new details on TCAT embezzlement case
TCAT spokesperson Patty Post said since the embezzlement came to light, the company has implemented more financial oversight.
“We’re seeking full restitution for the amount of money stolen, as well as for the forensic audit and the legal fees incurred during this process, which brings the grand total to about $295,000,” Poist said in a phone interview.
Johnson’s family and friends have written to the prosecutors, asking for leniency in her sentence.
She is scheduled to be sentenced in January.
