Law Firm Employee Admits Stealing $425K

The former office manager of a Rockville law firm pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing about half a million dollars since 2008 from her employer.

Kelley Jo Hunt faces up to 25 years in prison when she is sentenced next month. But the total could be less, says The Washington Post, given state sentencing guidelines, her efforts to pay back the firm and what her attorney said was a clean criminal record.

Hunt has repaid $123,000 to Miller, Miller & Canby, the firm she once worked for, and intends to pay at least $300,000 more, said David Moyse, her attorney. While Hunt admits she gave herself steep raises and extra payments, Moyse said she didn’t spend the money lavishly.

Hunt spent the money on her family and on payments to a house that was worth less than what was owed on it, the attorney said.

The theft went undetected for years since Hunt handled records and worked with an external payroll company. But the fraud came to light in January when a report went to a staffer in the law firm’s accounting office, prosecutor Bryan Roslund said in court. That report indicated Hunt had been paid about $5,000 too much. Managers confronted Hunt, who admitted she’d been paide too much in the previous pay period and would repay $10,000. She denied taking any more.

Moyse said in court that Hunt took at least $425,000, but the exact total remains in dispute.

»Read the entire Washington Post report.