A former administrative assistant at the Burlingame (Calif.) Public Library, pleaded no contest to stealing $129,000 worth of library fines over several years. Judith Gladysz also pleaded guilty to failing to pay taxes on the amount. She faces a maximum sentence of five years and eight months in jail, though a plea agreement will reduce her term, depending on how much of the stolen money she returns before she is sentenced April 20.
Officials from the city’s finance department had noticed that the library was doing a poor job of documenting the late-return fees it collected, and asked the library to improve its procedures, according to the January 24 San Francisco Chronicle. When large discrepancies continued to appear, the city performed an audit and found that the problem only occurred when Gladysz was on duty handling fines. San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney Peter Lynch said, “It sort of immediately raised the red flag.”
Burlingame librarian Al Escoffier told the Chronicle that the library had established new policies to double-check the process of collecting fines. Gladysz also faces a civil lawsuit from the library, and it is unclear how her plea and restitution will affect that case.
Posted January 29, 2001.