Former Marianna secretary and tax collector pleads guilty to mail fraud
The former secretary and tax collector for Marianna Borough pleaded guilty to a charge of mail fraud in federal court Tuesday.
The plea comes several years after Erica Pinkney was fired by the borough amid questions of missing records and funds.
Pinkney, 38, of Marianna, was hired as borough secretary in 2017 and appointed to fill the vacant tax collector job, normally an elected position, in June 2018. For a time, she held dual roles as secretary and tax collector.
According to an Aug. 8 indictment, Pinkney used borough credit cards to make personal purchases, including food, clothing, car parts and a Nintendo Switch. Prosecutors alleged she then used money collected from residents – for taxes, water bills and other utilities – to pay off the borough’s credit card bills.
According to the indictment, in July 2019, Pinkney mailed a check for $2,100 from Marianna’s tax collector account to the borough’s credit card company.
“This is a very serious and alarming matter for the borough,” said Marianna council President Jeremy Berardinelli. “This incident put our community in great financial distress. We are pleased justice is being pursued.
“The borough has implemented many safeguards to try to prevent these types of losses in the future. This council is committed to fiscal responsibility and oversight. We hope this will now bring closure to the residents of Marianna Borough.”
Berardinelli said council has not been provided an exact amount of how much is missing.
Jack Heneks, Pinkney’s attorney, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
State police began an investigation into missing borough funds in 2020. At the time, police said the money went missing between January 2018 and September 2019, when Pinkney was fired as secretary by Marianna’s council.
Marianna took Pinkney to court in 2020 over missing financial records related to her job as tax collector.
At the time, Washington County Judge Katherine B. Emery said Pinkney had “abandoned” her job as tax collector. Because of the lapse in records, Marianna did not have an accurate accounting of who had paid property taxes in 2019. Council fired her for refusing to participate in an investigation into the missing records.
Pinkney testified at the time that she left all tax records in the office, and believed that her firing applied to both the secretary/treasurer job and the tax collector job.
Pinkney is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 3. According to a release from the Department of Justice, she faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.