Former city-parish worker sentenced in theft of money
LAFAYETTE — A former city-parish employee was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay $420 in fines and restitution after pleading no contest Thursday to a theft charge for allegedly cashing a blank money order to the city.
Roxanne D. Andrus, 45, of Scott, worked as a sentence coordinator for a court-related program operated by city-parish government, and the $160 money order had been paid by someone who had signed up for a rehabilitation class offered through the city.
Andrus is a former lawyer who was disbarred in 2004 after allegations arose that she had mishandled about $47,000 in funds belonging to a 92-year-old woman who had authorized Andrus to help her with financial affairs, according to the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
State Supreme Court justices, in the order disbarring Andrus, wrote that she “exploited the power of attorney granted her by an elderly client … as a means to finance what can only be described as a personal ‘shopping spree.’ ”
In the recent criminal case in Lafayette, Andrus faced a misdemeanor theft charge.
She agreed to plead no contest in return for a 90-day suspended jail sentence, one year of probation, a $100 fine and $320 in restitution.
Prosecutor Don Landry said Andrus has 35 days to pay the money or face up to 90 days in jail.