Tracy Wright initially faced 13 counts of forgery, 13 counts of misusing public funds and one count of theft, a second-degree felony.

Traci Wright pleaded guilty Tuesday to embezzling public funds and gave back part of the money. Wright, 42, pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery and three counts of misusing public funds. In return, prosecutors agreed to drop 10 other counts of forgery and misuse of public funds and one count of theft. Through her attorney, Michael Petro, Wright presented the court with a $104,000 check payable to Genola, as part of her plea agreement.<br />Under the agreement, if Wright pays back the remaining $124,394.70 by the end of three years' probation, the charges will be reduced to class A misdemeanors.<br />Under the agreement, prosecutors will seek 90 days in jail, with all but 20 of those days served through electronic monitoring. Wright initially faced 13 counts of forgery, 13 counts of misusing public funds and one count of theft, a second-degree felony. She will return to court Oct. 28 for formal sentencing. Genola Mayor Eric Hazelet earlier said that Wright allegedly embezzled $240,000 from the town between 2001 and 2007. She resigned as recorder in August 2007, shortly after irregularities were found in the town's books.<br />Since then, the town has hired an additional person to handle finances and replaced Gilbert & Stewart as the town's auditors. Hazelet said the auditors didn't spot the embezzlement right away, but representatives of Gilbert & Stewart said they were not instructed to look for fraud.They did, however, warn the city that having the same person keep the books and write checks was not a good idea.

Tracy Wright initially faced 13 counts of forgery, 13 counts of misusing public funds and one count of theft, a second-degree felony.

Traci Wright pleaded guilty Tuesday to embezzling public funds and gave back part of the money. Wright, 42, pleaded guilty to three counts o...

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