MICHIGAN
Observer & Eccentric
Written by
LeAnne Rogers
Observer Staff Writer
A Canton woman will avoid having a criminal record on a charge of embezzling from St. Theodore Catholic Church in Westland, if she completes paying restitution within the next 120 days.
On Wednesday, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge James Chylinski allowed Kathleen Galoch, 63, to enter a diversion program. The former parish bookkeeper has repaid about a third of the $13,169 she was charged with stealing.
“People are furious. About 16 of us went to court. We were so surprised we could have fallen out of our seats,” said parishioner Loretta LaBerge.
Galoch was charged with embezzling only a fraction of the $143,000 reported missing from the parish where she had been employed since 1986 to handle bookkeeping and other administrative duties until being laid off early in 2011.
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