[UPDATED with Restitution Order:] Elyse Marie Kennedy, Bookkeeper with Herman Munster Bangs, Guilty of Embezzling $129,000 From Church

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UPDATE, MARCH 23, 12:19 P.M.: Former bookkeeper Elyse Marie Kennedy has been ordered to pay back $113,000 she stole from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Tustin.

That's the amount attorney's agreed upon in the wake of the 37-year-old Santa Anan's March guilty plea to forgery in the theft of $129,000 from the church between 2007 and 2009.

It's unknown how she'll come up with the scratch, but under Judge Erick Larsh's order Kennedy must prove the funds were obtained legally. She still has time to think up a way to make money, having previously been sentenced by Larsh to two years and eight months in state prison.

UPDATE, MARCH 24, 4:29 P.M.: Former bookkeeper Elyse Marie Kennedy pleaded guilty today to stealing $129,000 from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Tustin between 2007 and 2009.

The 37-year-old Santa Ana resident with Herman Munster bangs (at least when this booking photo was shot) was sentenced to two years and eight months in state prison after pleading guilty to two felony counts of forgery.

She's due back at Central Justice Center in Santa Ana on June 24 for a restitution hearing.

ORIGINAL POST, JAN. 28, 10:38 A.M.: Maybe this only happens here, maybe this happens everywhere, or maybe it's tied to the economy, but, goddamn, Orange County churches and religious organizations sure get ripped off frequently by those who keep their financial books.

Courtesy of OCDA
Elyse Marie Kennedy . . . and her bangs

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Speaking of the books, Elyse Marie Kennedy, of Santa Ana, is accused of taking them from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Tustin one day in January 2009 and never returning again. She's now accused of embezzling $129,000 from church accounts between 2007 and 2009. The 37-year-old was to be arraigned in Santa Ana today on 154 felony counts of forgery, with sentencing enhancements and allegations for aggravated white-collar crime. And Fashion Court may add counts for those Herman Munster bangs.

According to the Orange County district attorney's office (OCDA):

  • Kennedy wrote checks to herself from the church's bank accounts without the knowledge or consent of her church employers;
  • St. Paul's only discovered the funds were missing after receiving bank records;
  • If convicted, Kennedy could get probation or a prison sentence ranging from 16 months to 107 years;
  • She's been held in Orange County Jail since Dec. 27 for the church case and a probation violation from a 2005 grand-theft conviction.

Tip to Orange County churches: Don't hire someone with a grand-theft conviction as your bookkeeper.

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