By Katy Savage, Standard Staff
PLYMOUTH — Former Town Clerk Barbara Stone pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $20,000 from Plymouth in a Windham County Superior Court hearing Monday. Stone, 58, of Newport, New Hampshire, switched the innocent plea she made last spring to guilty for using town accounts to write unauthorized checks to her benefit, totaling nearly $23,000 last year. Stone drew money from two town accounts. She wrote a check to Dell Computers for $1,461 and made out five other checks to her name, ranging from $1,600 to $6,000 during the time she served the town as town clerk and treasurer.
It’s unclear why Stone changed her plea. Her attorney, Michelle Kainen, declined to comment. Attempts to reach Stone were unsuccessful.
Stone will be on probation until December 2020. There will be another hearing in 60 days to determine the amount Stone owes Plymouth. (The select board hired CPA Jeffrey Graham of Graham & Graham in Springfield to complete a forensic audit last spring, paying the firm about $21,000. Insurance covered the more than $20,000 Stone stole from the town, but not the audit.) Stone became the Plymouth town clerk in 2010. She resigned from her position last winter giving no explanation other than: “I have enjoyed getting to know and working with the residents and the challenges presented to me during my term as Clerk/Treasurer.”
The select board and the town clerk were in salary negotiations before Stone quit. Stone’s position was budgeted for $30,056, excluding benefits.
The select board and town officials didn’t have suspicions about Stone at the time of her resignation. The board even commended the work she had done for the town, saying: “she was doing a very good job.”
Problems with two checking accounts were discovered after a new town clerk, who took office last January, found numbers weren’t balancing.
The select board anticipated Stone’s change of plea, according to officials. The select board asked Stone to pay $40-$50,000 to the town for the time town employees took to correct the books and the money spent on hiring an outside audit firm.
“We’d like to get some of the money back because that bill’s going to be footed by taxpayers if we don’t get that back,” board member Russ Tonkin said.
Overall, the select board was pleased with the hearing’s outcome.
“We wanted something on her record permanently so she never had a chance to do this again,” Tonkin said.