September 08, 2006
Woman sentenced for embezzling from water district
Why?
Patricia Yvonne Unger, 56, was sentenced to six months in jail, with work release, for stealing more than $300,000 from the Forest View Acres Water District over six years by forging checks. Unger had kept the books for the 280-home district, near Palmer Lake and Monument, since 1994.
When Unger pleaded guilty to felony theft in June, she handed district officials a restitution check for $300,000. She must pay $15,000 more, at $250 per month, before her six-year supervised probation term is up. She also has an eight-year prison sentence hanging over her head if she doesn’t comply with the terms of her probation.
But she never said why she took the money, other than that her family was enduring financial hardships at first. She said she had always intended to pay it back and didn’t even know how much she took.
But district members got other answers at Thursday’s hearing in front of District Judge David Shakes.
Her husband of almost 40 years, Dennis Unger, told Shakes how he had decided to stand by his wife. But he also blamed water district officials for not keeping a closer eye on Unger.
Shakes asked him how more than $300,000 could have entered the home without him knowing about it.
Unger said his wife had a separate account from the joint household account and he never looked in it.
“I had no reason to suspect anything,” Unger said. “I know it’s hard to believe, but I really didn’t know.”
When handing down Unger’s sentence, Shakes chastised her husband for blaming the district.
“We don’t usually blame victims for not protecting themselves sufficiently from a cunning thief,” Shakes said.
Former board president Tom Guenther said board members hired and trusted Unger because she was “like Aunt Bea of Mayberry.”
“She was involved in community activities, a true do-gooder that would help anyone,” he said. “She was the last one I would have expected to commit these crimes.”
Shakes used that imagery.
“The facade of Aunt Bea from Mayberry has been pulled away to reveal, to her husband, employer and mother, a thief, a forger and an embezzler,” Shakes said. “You betrayed public trust.”
Unger asked that she be allowed to serve her sentence at home, so she could continue to operate her at-home transcription business.
“I deeply regret all that I’ve done,” Unger said. “I’ve brought disappointment, shame and hurt to the people I love.”
Shakes refused her request.
Board members watched closely as Unger was led away in handcuffs. One even tried to snap a picture of her before being admonished by a court clerk.
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