Former Goodwater City Clerk Convicted on Theft of Property Charges

Attorney General Luther Strange announced the conviction today of a former city clerk of the City of Goodwater.

Leslie S. Parker, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of property in the first degree. The Coosa County Circuit Court sentenced her to 46 months in prison, suspended, and 5 years of probation. The Court also ordered Parker to pay $264,181.44 in restitution to the City of Goodwater.

Parker’s conviction was based on evidence that she manipulated the City’s payroll system to pay herself more than her salary, from 2013 until December 2015. Although she was entitled to sick leave, holidays, and vacation time, she was not entitled to convert those to pay, and she was not entitled to overtime pay. She entered false hours in those categories into the City’s payroll system in order to increase her paycheck. She also wrote and cashed checks to herself from the City’s account and wrote a check to a third party for her own benefit.

Attorney General Strange’s Special Prosecutions Division presented evidence to a Coosa County grand jury, resulting in Parker’s indictment on April 29, 2016. Parker was previously arrested on a related charge on December 17, 2015, following a citizen complaint and subsequent investigation by the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Division.

“This defendant has been held accountable for gross misuse of her public position for personal gain, and she is now required to pay back the money she stole from the taxpayers of Goodwater,” said Attorney General Strange. “This case arose from the vigilance of a concerned citizen, and was completed through the dedicated hard work of those in our Special Prosecutions Division.”

Attorney General Strange commended those involved in bringing this case to a successful conclusion, noting in particular Assistant Attorney General Megan Kirkpatrick and Special Agents of his Special Prosecutions Division. He also thanked the Coosa County Sheriff’s Office for its assistance.