A former employee of the Sweetwater Union High School District pleaded guilty May 15 to misappropriation of funds and her lawyer said she hopes to pay $58,988 back to the district within a week.
Sentencing for Danya Margarita Williams, 42, was set for June 13 by Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Francis Devaney.
“She will be paying off the total amount in a week or less,” said her attorney, Kerry Armstrong, in an e-mail on Friday.
Armstrong said he would be seeking either house arrest or work furlough as part of the sentence. The District Attorney’s office agreed not to ask for prison, and any jail term would be limited to one year.
The judge has indicated he would consider alternatives to jail. She remains free on $50,000 bond on condition she not handle finances of others and have no contact with people from the Fifth Avenue offices in Chula Vista where she used to work.
The other charges of grand theft and embezzlement of public money will be dismissed. The charges were filed in March, so this is a quick turn around in the case.
Williams resigned her position in Sweetwater’s human resources department in Feb., 2018, according to Manny Rubio, the spokesperson for the district.
The scheme involved Williams cashing money orders in the amounts of $52 and $75 that were received from people who were paying the cost of fingerprint and background checks for those who were applying for jobs in the district.
In Oct., 2017, an employee noticed that two money orders were missing, but had been photographed. Two new money orders suddenly showed up, but they did not match the photographs of the earlier money orders.
Some money orders were altered with the payee name listed as DaNSia W. or Danya Williams and not the school district. Bank records showed she deposited money orders in a bank account she controlled.
District employees identified Williams as the person cashing those money orders on 7-Eleven surveillance cameras, according to court records.
The charges say the thefts occurred from June 1, 2016 to Dec. 8, 2017 and over 800 money orders were stolen.
