AUGUSTA — A former clerk at the district attorney’s office in Skowhegan pleaded not guilty Thursday to embezzling an estimated $85,000 in restitution and supervision fees paid to that office over a four-year period.
Julie A. Smith, 58, of Skowhegan was arraigned at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta after being indicted on two charges in the Somerset County criminal case.
Smith faces a felony charge of theft by unauthorized taking, which allegedly occurred from April 2010 to October 2014, and a misdemeanor charge of tampering with public records from June 2010 to July 2014. The latter charge says Smith falsified entries for restitution payments.
Smith, who had worked at the district attorney’s office since 2009, resigned after the investigation began in October 2014.
Smith’s lawyer, Walter Hanstein, asked for a longer-than-usual discovery period.
“The discovery in this case is rather voluminous,” he said. Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin agreed to the request. “We produced some of the discovery today, but there’s more to come,” Robbin said.
Smith is free on a $5,000 unsecured bail bond, and the judge set her next court date for Nov. 18 at the Somerset County Courthouse in Skowhegan.
Betty Adams can be contacted at 621-5631 or at:
badams@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @betadams
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