Clerks write 614 checks to themselves and steal $647,576 from Missouri city, feds say
Over six years, two city employees wrote 614 city checks to themselves and embezzled $647,576 from a “small, struggling” town, according to federal authorities. The stolen money was used to gamble and pay for personal expenses, officials said.
The two Flordell Hills clerks — who shared a home together in Florissant — also wired city funds to pay their third party vendors, McClatchy News reported. Some of the stolen money was used to pay taxes and rent, and other funds were used for entertainment and eating at restaurants.
Now, Donna Thompson, 76, and Maureen Woodson, 68, have both been sentenced, according to a May 17 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Thompson is accused of stealing $159,903. She’s been sentenced to a year and one day in prison and ordered to repay the funds, records show.
Authorities said Woodson stole $487,673 from the city. She’s been ordered to repay the money and serve 18 months in prison.
Their defense attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on May 18.
In February, defense attorney Steve Williams said his client, Thompson, “has accepted responsibility for her actions.”
Attorney Dan Juengel said his client, Woodson, “has accepted responsibility and is very remorseful.”
“Unfortunately, this case is an example of what can happen when you have a severe gambling addiction,” he told McClatchy News after she pleaded guilty.
“As the longtime appointed City Clerk and Deputy City Clerk of Flordell Hills, these two defendants targeted this small town and its residents for their own personal benefit and gain,” prosecutors said in the sentencing memorandum.
“Through their substantial criminal conduct, they took advantage of their positions in this small town and obtained almost $650,000 of funds provided by the residents through tax payments and the payment of other municipal fees,” prosecutors continued. “These were not isolated incidents, as their criminal conduct continued week after week, month after month, and year after year for more than six years until they were caught.”
The woman wrote checks to themselves from about February 2016 to April 2022, according to the release. To do so, authorities said they forged the signatures of the city mayor and/or treasurer.
The town of Flordell Hills, with a population of about 800, has a $400,000 annual budget, officials said. More than half of the residents in Flordell Hills live below the poverty line.
“Due to the financial difficulties caused by the women’s embezzlement, city officials at times did not take salaries,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith said, according to the release. “There was not enough money for road maintenance and other vital city services. Mayor Joe Noeth and other volunteers mowed overgrown areas of the city and cleared streets and roads when they were blocked by downed trees or limbs.”
Woodson and Thompson each pleaded guilty to mail fraud and wire fraud, records show. Woodson had worked for the city since 2010, and Thomspon began her employment with Flordell Hills in 2012.
Flordell Hills is part of the St. Louis metropolitan area.
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