A Strattanville woman accused of the theft of over $70,000 from a fire department could spend up to 17 years in a state prison.
Nichole Lynn Rawson, 22, on Wednesday entered a guilty plea to one charge of forgery, a second-degree felony, and one count of theft by unlawful taking, a third-degree felony.
Judge Sara Seidle-Patton said the maximum sentence for the forgery charge was a maximum of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $25,000. The judge said the maximum charge on the theft by unlawful taking was up to seven years in prison and a fine of $15,000.
The criminal complaint states overall, Rawson took approximately $70,000 in funds from the fire department and an additional $900 in cash from the secured safety box at the firehall. The $70,000 was taken by “Kiting” checks, a form of check fraud. The $900 was removed from the cash box in the firehall.
Rawson had initially been charged with seven counts of forgery, one charge of theft by deception, seven counts of identity theft, and one count of the use of an access device by an unauthorized person. All of the charges were felonies.
The charges are the result of an investigation into unusual activity in the fire department’s financial accounts.
According to the complaint, the investigation was initiated after an officer of the Strattanville Volunteer Fire Department advised state police he had noticed several checks only had one signature, and that the signature was of the department’s treasurer, Nichole Rawson. All checks written from the department’s accounts are required to have two signatures on them.
Rawson had been the department’s treasurer since 2015.
Sentencing will be held Oct. 6 in Courtroom No. 1 of the Clarion County Courthouse.