Woman guilty of stealing cash payments from Jackson County Sheriff's Office

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A former administrative secretary with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office will get prison time for stealing nearly $38,000 in payments.

According to a release by the Auditor of State Keith Faber’s office, Cheryl Brady took $37,964 in cash payments made to the sheriff’s office over a span of 10 months, from November 2018 through October 2019. A judge sentenced her to 36 months in prison after she was convicted of two counts of theft.

Brady was tasked with completing receipts, complete with preprinted sequential numbers, payment date, name of the payer, amount, payment type, description of payment and a signature of the person collecting the payment. Payments were to be kept in the safe at the sheriff’s office until provided to the county treasurer.

It was determined, however, that Brady completed duplicate receipts for fees collected, totaling $61,123. But only $23,159 was deposited into the County’s bank account, all from payments made by check.

After it was discovered that Brady misappropriated cash payments, she was placed on administrative leave in October 2019 before being terminated at the end of the month. In May 2021, she was indicted on charges of theft in office and grand theft, pleaded guilty to theft in office in December 2022 and was sentenced in February 2023.

Brady received 301 days of jail time credit and will also undergo two years of post-release control and was ordered to restitution in the amount of $45,692, which includes $7.728.50 in audit costs. She will also also be banned from holding public office.