She would then input fraudulent data into the church’s records “to make it appear that she had mailed the printed bank checks,” the plea deal said.
An audit of the parish’s finances ultimately revealed a “loss amount of $775,196.90 in funds stolen by Darrey.” The thefts took place from around October 2023 to March of this year.
Prior to the audit, Darrey had originally admitted to stealing a smaller amount of money from the parish; she reportedly begged the church to “not contact the authorities and press charges.”
The stolen money went toward “expensive purchases of concert and show tickets, luxury goods, payments to her home mortgage, and other purchases for herself and others,” prosecutors said.
The plea deal carries with it “a maximum sentence of 20 years of imprisonment” as well as a maximum $250,000 fine and “a term of supervised release of not more than three years.”
Darrey was also ordered to make restitution of the $775,000 to the Tampa parish as well as “any other victim as determined by the court.”
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