A former employee of Worth W. Smith Co. in Bradford accused of stealing more than $250,000 from the hardware store now faces 12 additional charges in the case.
District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer announced her intention to add 12 charges of theft by unlawful taking at the start of a preliminary hearing Wednesday for Laurie A. Recny, 36, of Bradford.
Recny, donned in black slacks and a bright green hooded sweatshirt, appeared for the afternoon hearing before District Judge Richard Luther with privately obtained counsel, attorney Dennis Luttenauer.
All 13 charges were bound to McKean County Court.
Recny was originally charged with one count of theft by unlawful taking, a second-degree felony, that encompassed the entire timeframe of the allegations — 2006 through September 2015 — and included the total amount allegedly stolen — $273,118.09.
Of the 12 new theft charges, each of 10 third-degree felonies represent one year of the 10 years she is accused of stealing; while of the last two new charges, both second-degree felonies, one represents a period from Jan. 1, 2012, and Sept. 2, 2015, and the other from Jan. 1, 2009, to Dec. 31, 2011.
There were no new allegations behind the new charges. A second-degree felony represents a theft of at least $100,000 but less than $500,000, and a third-degree felony represents a theft of at least $2,000 but less than $100,000.
Luttenauer expressed concern about the additional charges, saying they “essentially duplicate the time period alleged in the (first charge).”
Shaffer disagreed that the charges could not be added, stating there is no rule prohibiting more than one charge encompassing the same facts. If anything, she felt it would be an issue at the time of sentencing, when it would be determined whether counts merge. She suggested it was an issue that could be ruled on in the Court of Common Pleas.
When Luther stated he would allow the charges “for the purpose of the preliminary hearing,” Luttenauer brought up another objection: according to Luttenauer, the statute of limitations is five years on such allegations, so he felt any of the allegations stemming from before 2010 were too old to prosecute.
Shaffer argued, “We disagree with that. We believe this is a continuing course of conduct” — ending on her last day of employment. She was fired on Sept. 2, 2015.
Recny listened quietly to her former boss and coworkers as they each told the same story of how the thefts allegedly accumulated over a period of years before she was finally discovered last fall and terminated from her position. Foster Township Police Office Kevin Shaffer, who investigated the case, also testified.
Suspicion first arose when store manager Marcia McAdams found a register void for a sale of a ton of pellets, even though she knew the sale had been completed, she testified. “I immediately called my boss the next morning and told him we had a problem.”
During his own testimony, McAdams’ boss — owner Nate Smith — explained that when she and bookkeeper Margaret Fuller came to him with their suspicions that Recny was stealing from the cash register, he contacted an Olean, N.Y., security firm for help. “They suggested we install a camera.” According to him, over the three or four days following the surveillance camera installation, at least seven instances of Recny taking cash were caught on film.
Recny would allegedly leave money from customers out of the drawer, write down the amount on a slip of paper underneath her mousepad so she knew how much to void from the register, then put the cash either in her apron or her purse.
On Sept. 2, 2015, Smith, McAdams, Fuller and Smith’s father — Dale Smith — met with Recny in the store’s office to confront her about the alleged thefts.
Nate Smith, McAdams and Fuller provided similar accounts in Wednesday’s hearing on the encounter: Nate Smith told her he believed there were thefts going on and asked Recny if she anything about them; she denied knowledge. They watched a surveillance video of one transaction, and Smith asked again; again she denied taking money. It was after a second video that Recny admitted to taking money for an unknown period of time that she agreed was years, according to testimony.
According to Smith, as he walked her to her vehicle after terminating her employment, while crying, she said she was sorry and she didn’t know why she took the money, then she said she stole it for her “old boyfriend.”
Some surveillance footage was played for the courtroom, too.
The employees also talked about documents from the register that showed how many voids were made while each cashier was logged in to the register.
All the employees who testified agreed there are legitimate reasons to make cash voids, but the number that Recny made exceeded that of any other employee.
Over a 10-year period, Recny made 6,397 voids with a total of $273,118.09; in comparison, the only other full-time cashier made 923 voids with a total of $34,069.21. Other employees who spent less time on the register were found to have made between 35 and 66 voids each during the 10-year period.
Though Recny was said to have admitted to stealing money, and she has appears to have made a high number of voids, Luttenauer pointed out there was no way to determine which voids were legitimate and which were thefts.
“The Commonwealth has charged every single void,” he said, explaining he felt the Commonwealth had to establish which transactions were thefts.
Shaffer disagreed, saying she felt the “course of conduct” was established through Recny’s admission to stealing, through surveillance video and through a comparison of the voids made by each employee. She explained she felt there was enough evidence to convince a jury that a theft has occurred, and the value would be determined after that.
Luther took a brief recess after the attorneys made their final arguments, then returned to reveal he decided to add the amended charges to the complaint and bind all the charges to the higher court.
Recny remains free, having posted 10 percent of $25,000 bail.
