Borough’s ex-secretary gets prison for embezzlement

As secretary of tiny Corsica in Jefferson County, Tammy Laird stole so much money that the borough was forced to double taxes and the mayor had to issue a personal loan to keep the government running.

Laird paid the price Wednesday when a judge sent her to federal prison over the objections of her lawyer, who argued for probation.

Saying her thefts were motivated by greed, U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer imposed a term of 21 months and ordered Laird to pay $265,000 in restitution.

Laird, 49, had pleaded guilty in 2020 to 26 counts related to embezzling the money over eight years.

The FBI said she stole a total of $306,000 in all, some of which she has paid back.

Borough officials said that’s nearly a thousand dollars for each person who lives in Corsica, population 319.

Laird had been indicted in 2018 following an investigation by the FBI.

From 2009 until 2017, she systematically issued checks from the borough’s bank account and the Pennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust to herself, her husband and her father.

She forged the name of the council vice president on the checks and stole $256,000.

The FBI said she also issued another $21,000 in electronic payments to herself from borough accounts, which she used to pay her bills and her credit card balance. She stole another $27,000 by accessing the borough’s Staples account, using taxpayer money to buy herself a camera, an airline gift card, an iPad and other items.

In addition, she obtained a $15,000 loan by lying to a member of borough council that it was for borough expenses.

To hide what she was doing, she submitted bogus bank records to council and state auditors.

Laird, her lawyer and her friends and family asked for probation, recounting a litany of medical and mental health problems. A recitation of her medications alone totaled more than a dozen drugs for various ailments, from depression and sleeplessness to fibromyalgia.

In asking for probation or home detention, attorney Samantha Stern said Laird has every intention to repay what she stole and has made efforts to do that.

Laird apologized for ripping off her neighbors and promised that she is not the same person she was when she started stealing in 2009.

“I’m sorry to the borough council and all the residents of Corsica,” she said.

She apologized to residents who couldn’t have a playground for their children or are forced to drive on bad roads because the town can’t afford to fix them.

“I know most of you probably hate me, with good reason,” she said through tears. “I pray for forgiveness even though I don’t deserve it.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Bloch didn’t speak to forgiveness, but she argued that Laird doesn’t deserve probation.

She asked for prison within the guideline range of 27 to 33 months.

The thefts were “egregious and repetitive,” she said.

As a result, the borough had to raise its taxes from 9 mills to 18 mills. The mayor lent his own money to keep services going.

“She had a position of trust that she defeated,” Ms. Bloch said.

What’s more, Laird kept stealing even after she’d been indicted.

While out on bond, Ms. Bloch said, she was arrested on multiple counts of retail theft for stealing from Walmart five times between Nov. 6, 2018, and Jan. 3, 2019.

Judge Fischer agreed that probation is not warranted.

To bolster that contention, she read a list of other female embezzlers convicted in this district in recent years. All went to prison.