December 30, 2021 at 11:25 a.m.
Sayner woman pleads guilty to theft in business setting
Sayner woman pleads guilty to theft in business setting
By River News Staff-
Alicia T. Berray was charged with a single count of misdemeanor theft in a business setting April 29 following an investigation by Rhinelander Police Det. Sgt. Kyle Parish. According to the criminal complaint, Parish was contacted by the company that employed Berray to provide in-home services for clients because they suspected Berray had been billing the company for visits she never made, along with mileage to and from the clients' residences.
Upon concluding his investigation, Parish determined that Berray had fraudulently billed for hours and mileage for trips she never made to several clients. In all, she was paid $5,087.65 for services never performed and caused $9,154.85 in billable hours to be charged to Vilas County and the Human Services Center, the complaint states.
At her initial court appearance on May 17, before Oneida County circuit judge Patrick O'Melia, Berray's attorney Maggie Hogan entered a not guilty plea on her behalf.
Berray was given a $2,000 signature bond and a pretrial hearing was scheduled for July 13.
According to online court records, at that hearing, district attorney Michael Schiek and Hogan told O'Melia they were close to a resolution to the case and were confirming the amount of restitution. The same was true at another pretrial hearing on Sept. 28.
Court records show on Nov. 16, Schiek outlined the plea agreement, which included the addition of a second count of theft in a business setting. After Berray entered no contest pleas, O'Melia heard from all parties before announcing he was going along with the joint sentencing recommendation.
O'Melia withheld sentence and placed Berray on probation for two years, with 30 days conditional jail time to start before Jan. 1. Restitution will be determined within 12 months, but $4,000 was paid on Nov. 24, according to court records.
As a condition of her probation, she must not be employed in caregiving or in a job where she has sole responsibility for a person's finances.
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