Millsboro woman sentenced in theft from Greene County school
A Millsboro woman could spend up to 16 years and 40 days in prison for stealing from a Greene County school over a two-year period, and ordered to make over $695,000 in restitution.
Jo Phylis Popielarcheck, 54, of 14 College Ave. was sentenced last week before Greene County Judge Farley Toothman. She entered guilty pleas to various theft-related charges earlier this year.
State police Trooper Robert Cree charged that Popielarcheck stole $656,859 from Greene County Career and Technology Center in Franklin Township between December 2008 and November 2010. Popielarcheck was the business manager. Toothman ordered her to repay $695,859 — which included costs for the school’s audit and attorneys fees.
Police were alerted to irregular banking activities involving the school, and an audit of the accounts was conducted.
The audit revealed that over a 23-month period, Popielarcheck wrote checks to herself from three separate school accounts.
Police charged that she printed the checks with her computer, and then used a stamp to sign the required signatures.
After she wrote the checks, police charged that Popielarcheck deleted any record of the transactions from the school’s computer system.
Popielarcheck pleaded guilty to all 588 counts, which included theft by unlawful taking, forgery and computer trespassing.
In his sentence, which Toothman said was “unique because the facts of the case are unique,” the jurist sentenced Popielarcheck to four to 10 days in prison for each of the 588 combined counts of theft, forgery and computer trespass she faced.
The total sentence is 2,352 days to 5,880 days, which works out to 6 years, 160 days to 16 years, 40 days.
Toothman denied a request for Popielarcheck to have her sentence deferred when he sentenced her Sept. 2. However, he did allow her to participate in a state program that could cut her minimum sentence down to 61 months and 20 days.