Published: 10/11/2003

Former clerk avoids prison term for theft

Ann Waddington was accepted into the diversion program during a hearing Thursday before Erie County Probate Judge Beverly McGookey. Waddington could have been sentenced to as much as 18 months in prison for theft in office, a fourth-degree felony.

Kevin Bingham, a bailiff for Judge McGookey, said Waddington must repay $16,523.67 for a special audit conducted last year at the request of then-acting Judge James Stacey. Earlier this year, Waddington repaid $4,978 taken from the court between Jan. 1, 2001, and Aug. 9, 2002. She resigned as deputy clerk Aug. 12, 2002.

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