Ex-secretary wants to take back plea
A former Muddy Creek Township secretary who is in prison for writing herself unauthorized checks is asking the judge who sentenced her for permission to withdraw her guilty plea and have a trial.
Dixie Christy, 39, of Cherry Township claims "a manifest injustice would occur if she was not permitted to withdraw her guilty plea," according to a court request filed Wednesday.
Christy in March pleaded guilty to 103 counts of forgery and one count of felony theft.
Butler County Judge William Shaffer July 6 sentenced Christy to serve 9 to 18 months in the county jail, followed by 10 years' county probation. And, Christy must pay nearly $180,000 in restitution.
"I always felt she should fight these charges," said Christy's defense attorney Michael Frisk.
Christy entered her plea under "undue pressures" of financial concerns and fear for her family, Frisk said. Therefore, her court request claims, the plea was not voluntary, a requirement of the law.
Frisk earlier said the checks in question in this case, more than 100 of them, were paid to Christy to cover significant overtime accrued helping organize a new township office. Frisk said the checks always were endorsed by one of the three township supervisors, and his client paid taxes on them.
Township officials and prosecutors have publicly disputed Christy's claim, saying she was instructed to do those chores during her regular workweek.
Instead, officials said Christy had written herself $142,000 in unauthorized pay.
Christy, who began working for the township in 2002, was in charge of township payroll and commonly wrote checks.
Court records indicate she began issuing herself the unauthorized checks in 2005 and promptly resigned when confronted about them on Oct. 27, 2008.
Assistant District Attorney Patricia McLean prosecuted this case, and could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
A court date has not yet been set to hear Christy's argument.
In the meantime, she is in the Butler County Prison serving the existing sentence.
Christy's court requests also asks the courts to reconsider the restitution tally if the defendant is not granted a new trial.
