Former Amherst County employee pleads guilty to embezzlement

By Scott Marshall
Published: May 18, 2009

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A former part-time Amherst County employee pleaded guilty today to embezzling several thousand dollars while working for the solid waste department.

Tammy Fitzgerald, 42, of Madison Heights, faces sentencing July 13 on the felony count, for which the maximum penalty is 20 years in prison.

Fitzgerald is remorseful and has repaid the $4,341.72 missing from the department, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Cary Payne told Circuit Judge Michael Gamble.

Payne said that a department employee called the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office in October when discrepancies were found in a composition book, in which handwritten records of some department funds were kept.

The money was taken between July and October, Payne said.

Fitzgerald later admitted that she needed money to pay credit card bills and that her husband, who had lost his job, did not know about her activities, Payne said.

Fitzgerald has no previous convictions, he said.

Fitzgerald’s attorney, Tom Shrader, said that he would present character witnesses on her behalf at sentencing.