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By BETTY ADAMS
Staff Writer 09/05/2008

AUGUSTA  — The city of Gardiner’s fired finance administrator has admitted embezzling $195,000 from city coffers between June 2002 and June 2008.

Patricia Coty, 55, of Gardiner pleaded guilty on Wednesday in Kennebec County Superior Court to charges of theft by unauthorized taking and forgery. She has paid $100,000 in partial restitution to the city.

A sentencing recommendation offered jointly by the state and Coty’s attorney, Walter McKee, will cap her jail time at nine months.

“I’m recommending nine months,” District Attorney Evert Fowle said. “The court will ultimately decide how long she will go to jail.”
Fowle said city officials supported the recommended sentence: six years in prison, with her serving up to nine months of that, followed by three years on probation, according to court records.

“Patricia has taken full responsibility for what she did,” McKee said. “Without any agreement with the district attorney, she paid back a substantial portion of the money already.

“This is obviously a very trying time for Patricia and her family.”

McKee said Coty’s family helped her pay the restitution.

“We have been in ongoing contact with the city manager and kept him apprised every step of the way with regard to the investigation and negotiations,” Fowle said.
Gardiner City Manager Jeff Kobrock said Thursday he plans to attend the sentencing hearing.

“We’re very appreciative of the district attorney’s efforts,” Kobrock said. “He’s been very attentive to the community’s role as a victim.”

He said the guilty plea was important toward getting justice for the community.

“It’s an honest and difficult step toward healing the broken trust on the part of the city as an organization and the community itself,” he said.

As finance administrator, Coty served as a bookkeeper for the city.

Kobrock said city officials are focused on getting full restitution for the money stolen and have also filed claims with the city’s insurers, Hanover Insurance and One Beacon. The amounts the city can recoup from them will be offset by the insurance coverage.

“We expect to be whole in one way or another,” Kobrock said. “The current proposal is that we’ll be made whole through restitution.”

Fowle said he did not know what Coty did with the embezzled funds.

“My understanding is that there wasn’t any remarkable or discernible change in her lifestyle as a result of this,” Fowle said. “I think if it changed her lifestyle markedly, it would have been uncovered sooner than it was.”

Coty remains free on $50,000 surety bail.
Gardiner Mayor Andrew MacLean previously said that, despite annual audits, the thefts went undetected until last fall when the city hired a finance director with more than 30 years of experience.

The thefts came in such small increments — $500 to $800 at a time — that they were difficult to detect, Finance Director Sandy Runyon said.

Coty had worked for the city for 13 years until she was fired and escorted from city hall by police in June.


Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com  

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