COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A former Girard United Methodist Church secretary broke down as she tried to a read a statement expressing her regret about taking over $37,000 from a local church during her sentencing hearing Monday in Branch County Circuit Court.
49-year-old Melissa Ann Rogers of Quincy was placed on probation for two years by Judge Bill O’Grady after she entered a guilty plea to a charge of attempted larceny.
She was charged last September following a Michigan State Police investigation into the embezzlement of money from the church over a six year period.
In exchange for her guilty plea, the original embezzlement charge was dismissed.
The church’s insurance company has paid over $27,000 of the money taken. Rogers would still have to pay back the balance.
Rogers was also given a 90 day jail sentence by Judge O’Grady with all over 30 days suspended. The executed time can be served on work release.
According to court documents, an audit discovered the taking of church funds involving 289 checks between January 2010 and February 2016.
