Gray’s former finance director has paid the town more than $53,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to misappropriating funds between 2020 and 2022, town officials announced Tuesday.

Katy Jewell, who began the role in 2017, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft by unauthorized taking or transfer last month. As part of a plea deal, Jewell will pay back the full amount stolen, $37,608.57, plus $15,568.75 to cover auditing and legal fees, town manager Michael Foley said in a Tuesday press release.

“The Town takes its responsibility to the community very seriously, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that our employees uphold the highest ethical standards, and that we have appropriate checks & balances in place to prevent this from happening,” Foley said in the release.

The missing funds were first noticed by the town’s auditor following the June 2022 annual audit. The issue was then referred to law enforcement and prosecuted by the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office, the town said.

In April of 2023, town officials announced that an employee who was leaving their job had been paid $27,000 in accrued sick time. That audit uncovered multiple errors in employee pay and payroll tax withholding.