A woman who embezzled more than $22,000 while president of the Parent Teacher Organization at Sun View Elementary School in Huntington Beach was taken into custody Thursday for failing to pay back enough of what she owed to avoid jail time, a prosecutor said.
Gail Diane Monestere had promised to pay $16,000 by today, but only coughed up half that amount and went missing this morning after she was allowed time to call around to family and friends to see if she could borrow the rest, according to Deputy District Attorney Clarissa Stone.
Monestere was ordered back to court at 11:30 a.m., and when she didn’t show, Orange County Superior Court Judge Joanne Motoike issued a bench warrant for her arrest. When the defendant returned to court at 1:30 p.m., she was jailed.
“She’s just been playing the system,” the prosecutor said.
But Stone said that if she can recover the money, she’s inclined to be flexible.
“Everything we’ve tried to do is to just get the money back to the school,” the prosecutor said.
Motoike set a Nov. 21 sentencing date. If the defendant’s family or friends can come up with the rest of the money by then, she could be released again, Stone said.
Monestere pleaded guilty in September to felony grand theft and misdemeanor grand theft by embezzlement by a public or private officer . Part of her plea deal includes a promise to pay back 22,258.32 to avoid jail time, Stone said.
If the defendant cannot pay the rest of the money back, she faces up to four years in a local jail, Stone said.
Paying full restitution would also allow her to have the felony reduced to a misdemeanor, Stone said.
Monestere wrote unauthorized checks to herself from the organization’s bank account in amounts ranging from $250 to $800, according to Stone. She was the organization’s president from September 2010 to February 2011.
— City News Service