A former business manager for the Grandview R-II School District in Jefferson County, Mo., has been sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for embezzling $1.6 million from the district.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Angela Huskey, 51, pleaded guilty earlier this year to felony fraud.
Prosecutors say she stole the money from July 2006 to October 2016 by making payments to herself and using district money for personal purchases. She covered up the embezzling by altering vendor records and changing payroll records to falsely show that her colleagues were receiving higher salaries.
Because of that, 18 employees had to pay $13,368.28 in extra taxes for salary that they never received.
In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel ordered Huskey to repay $1.8 million to cover the money she stole and the costs to the district of investigating and dealing with the theft.
Grandview officials say that Huskey stole funds even as the district endured staff cuts, technology that couldn't be updated and a lack of funding for preschool for several years.
Huskey began working for the district in 1996. She became an administrative assistant in 2002 and the business manager in 2009.
District officials say Huskey used the money to buy a second home, motorcycles for herself, her husband and her son, appliances and a trailer with a fireplace.
The embezzlement was uncovered after the district spotted possible irregularities and brought in an outside audit firm. The evidence the firm found was turned over to the FBI and federal prosecutors.
