By Pamela Lehman
The Morning Call
HELLERTOWN, Pa. — The former longtime treasurer of the Dewey Fire Company will face trial in Northampton County Court on charges she stole more than $395,000 from the Hellertown company and using the money for gambling and entertainment, officials say.
Agnes Patterson, 51, of Hellertown, faces charges of theft, access device fraud and related charges after a monthlong investigation by the county’s grand jury.
At a hearing Monday, Patterson agreed to waive her right to a preliminary hearing, a move that typically acknowledges investigators have enough evidence to merit the charges. Patterson’s attorney, Robert Eyer, declined to comment after the hearing.
Assistant District Attorney Laura Marie Majewski said attorneys were working on a plea deal in the case, but one had not yet been reached.
Patterson, of the 500 block of Henry Street, remains free on on $10,000 bail. She was “removed” from her position as treasurer in July, authorities say, during an investigation that began with an audit of Dewey’s finances.
After Patterson was confronted about the missing money, she admitted to using the stolen funds to gamble at casinos along the East Coast, dine at restaurants and pay her personal bills.
According to court records:
Fire officials testified in October that an audit of the fire company’s finances uncovered suspicious bank card withdrawals.
Authorities say Patterson was the only one with access to the fire department’s bank accounts and had served as treasurer since 2002. At first, Patterson said the bank withdrawals were used to cash payroll checks, but later admitted to taking the money.
At a July 6 meeting, Patterson apologized to the fire department’s executive board, admitting she had “betrayed the people and their trust.” Patterson said the thefts started with a debit card and then “went deeper and deeper,” according to an audio recording of the meeting that was presented to the grand jury.
County Detective Gerald Walsh said Patterson was the only person handling the fire company’s finances and would make personal purchases and cash advances on a Bank of America credit card, then used Dewey’s Wells Fargo bank account to get the money to pay the credit card bill.
Patterson used the money to gamble at casinos in Bethlehem and Wilkes-Barre, as well as New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, authorities said.
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