A former Reynolds city clerk pleaded guilty to fiduciary theft Tuesday and was ordered to pay $17,000 restitution.
Tonya Dawn Kirksey, 47, also must serve eight years on probation and 30 days-worth of weekends in jail. She was sentenced as a first offender during a hearing in Taylor County Superior Court.
The Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office was appointed in August 2015 to prosecute the case after prosecutors in the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit, which includes Taylor County, recused themselves.
If the case had gone to trial, prosecutor Neil Halvorson would have presented evidence showing:
Kirksey worked as city clerk between 2012 and 2015. During her employment she took cash from a city account and replaced it with personal checks that later bounced. She used the money for personal expenses including meals and vacation. Kirksey also altered computer records to change the amount a person paid to the city for a traffic fine.
The case was investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Kirksey was arrested July 8, 2015.
Speaking after the hearing, Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney David Cooke said, “Ms. Kirksey betrayed the public’s trust when she stole the city’s money. Now she will spend eight years paying back what she took. We’re happy to have gotten justice for the city of Reynolds and its residents.”
For more news from the District Attorney’s Office, follow on Twitter @DA_DavidCooke, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DADavidCooke and on Instagram at da_davidcooke.
Contact: Amy Leigh Womack
478-621-6179 (office)
478-319-2529 (cell)
