Former Cherryville finance director Bonny Verley Alexander was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for embezzling nearly $500,000. Once released, Alexander, 59, will be put on probation for three years and ordered to pay back the money she stole, $435,294.17.
Years of theft: Alexander worked for the city for more than 20 years. Investigators determined that she used her position to take thousands from her employer beginning in August 2005 until she retired in December 2011.
Alexander made weekly payroll payments to herself which were more than 300 percent of her actual salary. Alexander also issued city checks to pay for personal expenses. To pay her American Express bill, Alexander issued city checks and forged the signature of another Cherryville employee. To conceal the fraud, once the forged checks had cleared and were returned by the bank, Alexander removed them from the city’s records.
Alexander issued and forged 26 checks totaling approximately $97,000, to pay off personal charges on her American Express card. Though Alexander was caught for stealing from the city for six years, she could’ve been dipping into funds for far longer, according to Michael Savage of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte. Savage said in court that the city’s records didn’t go back further than 2005.
“We only know that she was stealing in 2005. It could’ve been much earlier,” he said.
Larger impact: Many people showed up to represent Cherryville for Alexander’s sentencing hearing.: Mayor H.L. Beam and City Councilman Brian Dalton each read statements in court. Beam is a lifelong resident of Cherryville and was not mayor at the time Alexander worked for the city. He said the impact of her thievery is hard to swallow.
Beam told the court that Alexander crippled the city’s budget and injured the trust of Cherryville residents. The mayor said he’d hope to hear that Alexander took the money to help an ill relative or make up for a financial hardship. Instead, Beam said that Alexander frivolously spent the city’s money to pay for plastic surgery, international vacations, expensive jewelry and fancy cars.
“Ms. Alexander came extremely close to bankrupting the city of Cherryville,” Dalton said. But the city is in recovery, Dalton told the court.
Personal shame: Alexander opted not to speak when given the chance in court. She let her attorney, Sonya Pfeifer, serve as her mouthpiece. According to Pfeifer, her client has suffered greatly since being charged with and pleading guilty to embezzlement. Pfeifer described Alexander as a broken woman who is full of shame. “Cherryville is a small town. Bonny is entirely clear that she betrayed the trust of the city of Cherryville,” Pfeiffer said.
Since her arrest, Alexander has worked to repay her debt, according to Pfeiffer. Alexander has made some payments including bringing a check for $3,000 to court Friday. Alexander has been working as a receptionist at Stowe Flooring and continues to attend First Baptist Church in Cherryville.
Debt to repay: In addition to prison time, Alexander was ordered to repay the money she embezzled. Cherryville has since gotten $100,000 from insurance companies because of the incident. That means Alexander will pay that restitution to the insurance companies and the rest to Cherryville.
Because she was a state employee, Alexander’s monthly pension payments of $2,300 will be applied to her debt. Alexander has been out on bond while awaiting sentencing. She will be ordered to report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving her sentence. Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
You can reach Diane Turbyfill at 704-869-1817 and twitter.com/GazetteDiane.