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NEWTON FALLS -- A Youngstown woman who was a bookkeeper for more than five years at a Newton Falls Catholic parish pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge of aggravated theft.
The theft is connected to the investigation of embezzlement from that parish.
Rachelle Barb, 46, of 2718 Normandy Drive, Youngstown, appeared with her attorney Nicholas Cerni before Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Andrew D. Logan, who will sentence her after she undergoes a background investigation conducted by the adult probation department.
Barb, who remains free on $5,000 bond since her arraignment on a secret indictment last October, was the subject of the investigation, reports said, after she left her job in the summer of 2019 as bookkeeper / secretary at SS. Mary and Joseph Parish in Newton Falls.
Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow said the Diocese of Youngstown agreed to the plea deal, which saw the charge reduced from a third-degree felony to a fourth-degree felony that carries a maximum 18-month prison term.
Morrow said the Diocese agreed to accept $253,756.68 in restitution from the defendant, while the charge only specified that the sum of money missing was more than $7,500. Morrow said investigators found that Barb had a personal account at the same bank as the parish's account and had linked the two electronically. The electronic transfers from the two accounts occurred from Jan. 1, 2014, through June 30, 2019.
"I would like to commend the fine work by Michael Yanucci and other detectives with the sheriff's office for their investigation into this case, which was also helped out by the Ohio Attorney General's office," Morrow said.
Monsignor John Zuraw, chancellor of the Diocese, referred comments about the case to Pat Kelly, the Diocese's chief financial officer. Kelly released this statement to the media: “The Diocese takes seriously a commitment of stewardship from all employees and volunteers. When it was discovered, through our parish audit process, that a parish employee had misappropriated a substantial amount of parish funds, the Diocese had a legal duty to report this to law enforcement and cooperate with the criminal justice system.
“We commend the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office for their competent handling of this matter. We continue to monitor all financial processes and controls within all Diocesan entities to ensure the highest integrity from those who serve,” Kelly wrote.