NORFOLK, Va. — A woman has been sentenced to nine months for felony embezzlement, the Norfolk's Commonwealth Attorney's Office said.
This conviction comes after Cassandra Janene Meeks-Payton, 55, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $9,000 of summer school payments from Norfolk Public Schools in 2019.
According to the Norfolks's Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, Meeks Payton was employed by NPS in 2019 as the summer school programs manager and was responsible for collecting cash and money order payments from students and their families for summer classes.
On July 8, Meeks-Payton made her first in-person deposit and accounts receivable immediately identified discrepancies between the revenue received and Meek-Payton's receipts. NPS repeatedly addressed inconsistencies in her receipts.
After a month, Meek-Payton avoided multiple attempted contacts from accounts receivable about the outstanding money. On Aug. 19, 2019, she agreed to meet NPS officials to deliver the outstanding balance but she didn't bring the money claiming it was at a relative's house two and a half hours away. On Aug. 22, 2019, she emailed NPS officials that she couldn't provide her receipt books.
Meeks-Payton was sentenced to nine months in jail with two years suspended on the condition that she pay the full $9,470 in restitution to Norfolk Public Schools and complete a period of good behavior until the restitution is paid. She was considered for work release and home electronic monitoring so she could work to pay the restitution.
“Mrs. Meeks-Payton stole from the children of Norfolk and their parents, and for that we hope that she is sorry,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “She committed a crime of choice, and she should have known better. We hope that Mrs. Meeks-Payton will serve her sentence, learn from her mistake, make restitution, and return to the community reformed.”
