Published: February 24, 2011

Updated: February 24, 2011 - 5:26 PM

http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2011/feb/24/2/former-appomattox-sheriffs-employee-pleads-guilty--ar-864772/

APPOMATTOX --

A former administrative assistant for the Appomattox County Sheriff’s Office pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering and grand larceny relating to overtime pay she received while working at the sheriff’s office.

Sandra Covington, 57, pleaded guilty in Appomattox County Circuit Court to 10 counts of money laundering and 10 counts of grand larceny. Another 10 counts of each were not prosecuted. A sentencing date will be set for Covington on April 5.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Darrel Puckett said the investigation began after Appomattox County Sheriff Wilson Staples received word from the county’s payroll department regarding discrepancies in Covington’s overtime pay.

Staples asked the Virginia State Police’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations to look into the allegations since it involved a member of his own staff, Puckett said. Covington served as the administrative assistant to the sheriff and handled employee pay documents.

“The payments were coming out of the sheriff’s side and out of the jail side,” Puckett said. “She was taking money out of the jail side and that should have never happened because she worked on the sheriff’s side.”

Puckett said the overtime documents for Covington submitted to the county for payment did not match the documents stored at the sheriff’s office.

Puckett said with the exception of one overtime request that Staples approved, the amount of overtime pay amassed from July 2009 to February 2010 amounted to just over $9,000.

Covington’s attorney Marshall Ellett said his client has paid the county back about $5,500 and is working toward the paying the remainder of the restitution.