It seems a jury will have to determine if Randi Matthews stole close to $380,000 from the town of Fairfield while her husband served as supervisor.
After almost two months of waiting for a decision on a plea offer, attorneys said Thursday that Herkimer County Judge Patrick Kirk will be setting a trial date.
Matthews pleaded not guilty in April to charges of felony grand larceny and 349 counts of forgery and tampering with public records. She has since remained in county jail on $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.
She is accused of forging hundreds of checks in order to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the town between 2006 to 2009.
Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter declined to comment on the plea offer, saying that the decision to bring the matter to trial came at a scheduling conference June 25.
The plea offer was made at a May 4 pre-trial conference and included a request from the defense to not disclose the offer if it is not taken, according to Matthews’ attorney, George Aney.
Any trial will “absolutely” be by jury, Aney said.
The defense is also able to choose a bench trial before the judge.
The decision to go trial has been made despite Matthews’ detailed description of her crime to state police investigators.
The crime, according to her statement to investigators used in the indictment:
Matthews said her husband, former supervisor Francis Matthews, allowed her to handle all of the town finances.
She tells of falsifying financial reports to the town board and hiding mail from her husband to cover up unpaid bills and missing funds. All the while, town funds were slowly drained as Matthews wrote checks to herself or husband and deposited the money in her bank account.
A signature stamp was even used to forge many of the checks, and she balanced the family checkbook to hide the funds there, as well.
Using a bank debit card, Matthews took the cash out at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona and gambled away all of the town money.
Francis Matthews, who lost a re-election bid last fall, resigned as town supervisor several weeks before the end of his term, coming just as the investigation into the missing funds was announced.
Carpenter said the investigation into the missing funds remains open.
As for Randi Matthews’ statement and its impact on the case, Aney said he may make a motion to keep them out of the trial.
“[Under] the broad grounds that they were not voluntarily given in accordance with existing statutory and case law,” he said of a potential reason for suppressing the statement.
State police Investigator Ben Scalise, who is conducting the ongoing investigation into the missing town funds, could not be reached Thursday.
The number of charges in the case could also play a major role in the outcome of the case.
The charges, if proven, could carry a consecutive sentence, according to Aney. This means any sentencing could involve significant prison time based on the numerous counts, he said.
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It seems a jury will have to determine if Randi Matthews stole close to $380,000 from the town of Fairfield while her husband served as supervisor.
After almost two months of waiting for a decision on a plea offer, attorneys said Thursday that Herkimer County Judge Patrick Kirk will be setting a trial date.
Matthews pleaded not guilty in April to charges of felony grand larceny and 349 counts of forgery and tampering with public records. She has since remained in county jail on $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.
She is accused of forging hundreds of checks in order to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the town between 2006 to 2009.
Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter declined to comment on the plea offer, saying that the decision to bring the matter to trial came at a scheduling conference June 25.
The plea offer was made at a May 4 pre-trial conference and included a request from the defense to not disclose the offer if it is not taken, according to Matthews’ attorney, George Aney.
Any trial will “absolutely” be by jury, Aney said.
The defense is also able to choose a bench trial before the judge.
The decision to go trial has been made despite Matthews’ detailed description of her crime to state police investigators.
The crime, according to her statement to investigators used in the indictment:
Matthews said her husband, former supervisor Francis Matthews, allowed her to handle all of the town finances.
She tells of falsifying financial reports to the town board and hiding mail from her husband to cover up unpaid bills and missing funds. All the while, town funds were slowly drained as Matthews wrote checks to herself or husband and deposited the money in her bank account.
A signature stamp was even used to forge many of the checks, and she balanced the family checkbook to hide the funds there, as well.
Using a bank debit card, Matthews took the cash out at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona and gambled away all of the town money.
Francis Matthews, who lost a re-election bid last fall, resigned as town supervisor several weeks before the end of his term, coming just as the investigation into the missing funds was announced.
Carpenter said the investigation into the missing funds remains open.
As for Randi Matthews’ statement and its impact on the case, Aney said he may make a motion to keep them out of the trial.
“[Under] the broad grounds that they were not voluntarily given in accordance with existing statutory and case law,” he said of a potential reason for suppressing the statement.
State police Investigator Ben Scalise, who is conducting the ongoing investigation into the missing town funds, could not be reached Thursday.
The number of charges in the case could also play a major role in the outcome of the case.
The charges, if proven, could carry a consecutive sentence, according to Aney. This means any sentencing could involve significant prison time based on the numerous counts, he said.
