PORT ANGELES — A former Clallam County Sheriff’s Office evidence technician will be tried next month on charges that she allegedly stole thousands of dollars from the evidence room four years ago.
Staci L. Allison, whose last known address was in Montesano, will be tried on first-degree theft and money laundering charges June 28 in Clallam County Superior Court.
The Sheriff’s Office in November 2006 found 129 empty evidence bags — that had contained $51,251.33 — stuffed in a plastic tube in the evidence room.
Allison is charged with stealing $8,644.19, which is the amount that investigators can prove she stole, they said.
A State Patrol investigation tied Allison to some of the missing cash when it discovered that she had deleted 49 computer records from the evidence system on May 25, 2006 — one day before an evidence audit.
Some of the deletions accounted for 18 of the evidence bags found in the tube. Those bags contained $8,644.19.
Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict said last June that he believes Allison stole the amount that is missing, but added that the prosecution is going after what it can prove.
The maximum penalty for each charge — 10 years imprisonment and a $20,000 fine — would be the same for each amount, he said.
Allison is one of two former county employees accused of stealing money from their offices.
Catherine Betts, 46, of Shelton is accused of stealing $617,467 from the Clallam County Treasurer’s Office when she worked there as a cashier. The thefts occurred between Feb. 1, 2004 and May 19, 2009.
________
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.