A woman who used to work as a bookkeeper for the San Miguel Community Services District (CSD) has been sentenced for theft and felony embezzlement of $38,000.
30-year-old Kallie Johnson of Paso Robles, was sentenced to 180 days in jail for thefts occurred between June 2015 and November 2015 while Johnson was working as the district’s bookkeeper.
According to evidence in the case, she manipulated the district’s payroll system to increase the amount of her paycheck.
She did this on eleven separate occasions, increasing the amount of each paycheck from $2,000 to as much as $4,000, according to the county.
“While the sentence is less than we had hoped for, we can all be thankful that she's receiving punishment for shattering the trust of this community and stealing the resources of the district,” said Ashley Sangster, San Miguel Community Services District Board President.
Deputy District Attorney Michael Frye urged the Judge to sentence Johnson to at least one year in custody, however Judge Baltodano gave a lesser sentence of 180 days taking into consideration that she had served in the military, had no major prior criminal history and was making efforts to pay restitution.
“The public has a right to expect that all government officials, whether employees in small local districts or state agency officials, will serve the public and protect our valuable public resources. Ms. Johnson abused her position by stealing from the residents who live in San Miguel and we will not allow public corruption in any form to go unpunished in San Luis Obispo County,” said District Attorney Dan Dow.
The Community Services District provides water, sewer, solid waste disposal, street lighting and general administrative services to the community of San Miguel, population 2,400.
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Bureau of Investigation looked into the case and Deputy District Attorney Michael Frye with the Public Integrity Prosecution Unit prosecuted it.
