CANTON A former SARTA employee stood before a judge Monday, struggling with emotions as she admitted to theft charges tied to bilking the public agency of $410,000.
Kristy Williams, 38, of Plain Township, pleaded guilty in Stark County Common Pleas Court to aggravated theft and theft in office, both third-degree felonies, as well as counts of insurance fraud and forgery.
Williams is the former human resources director at the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority, the local public busing system, which operates on an annual budget of roughly $23 million through federal grants, state funding, sales tax proceeds and other sources.
Charges stem from Williams’ misuse of SARTA credit cards, fraud related to health insurance during her employment at the agency and the forgery of documents falsely claiming she should have been reimbursed for tuition costs at a college or other academic institution, said Stark County Assistant Prosecutor Beau Wenger.
The misused funds and fraudulent activity were calculated at a total value of $410,000, he said.
Fraud included being paid both by SARTA and through health-related insurance while Williams was on leave, Wenger said.
Gift cards misused
Thefts collectively occurred between 2011 and 2018, court records said.
Williams worked at SARTA for more than 10 years, including one or two years in the human resources position before she was fired, said Kirt Conrad, SARTA’s executive director and CEO.
Williams misused gift cards intended as incentives for SARTA’s employee wellness program, the SARTA official said.
Misappropriated gift cards included those from Rite Aid, Mastercard and Visa, he said.
Wenger said Williams also had taken less than $500 from a safe at SARTA.
“We do have insurance that covers this,” Conrad said. “So ultimately, there won’t be any loss to the public.”
A codefendant, Brandy L. Pryor, 42, of Akron, also has pleaded guilty to charges, including theft in office and fourth-degree felony counts of grand theft and tampering with records.
Pryor, SARTA’s former human resources assistant, “knowingly obtained $14,742 from forged college transcripts for a college reimbursement program,” according to records filed in the case by the Stark County Prosecutor’s Office.
Pryor is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29.
Williams, who also admitted to a misdemeanor charge of tampering with records, is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday. Judge Frank Forchione said she will be sent to prison, although he didn’t specify the term.
Williams faces up to three years in prison, Wenger said.
Neither defendant had a previous criminal record.