By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
LINCOLN PARK — A clerk who pleaded guilty to embezzling from the 25th District Court where she worked was sentenced to probation Thursday.
Catherine Smith, 31, was sentenced by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge James Chylinski to probation and repayment of $7,778, the amount she had admitted to having embezzled beginning in August 2012.
Smith, who worked at the River Rouge branch of the court, pleaded guilty on Oct. 31 to one count of embezzlement by a public official over $50 and one count of embezzlement of more than $1,000 but less than $20,000.
Under a plea reduction agreement four counts of embezzlement over $50 were dismissed, according to court records. Smith originally was arraigned in September before 33rd District Court Judge James K. Kersten — a neutral setting in Trenton for the initial arraignment — before being bound over to Wayne County Circuit Court.
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected])