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Judge denies plea in church theft case

June 08, 2005|TODD KLEFFMAN

A former Danville church secretary who was ready to enter a plea to multiple theft counts now awaits a trial date after a judge rejected the plea deal she and prosecutors had agreed to.

Kristin M. Goodlett, a former secretary for Trinity Episcopal Church on Main Street, is scheduled for a pretrial conference on Aug. 2 before Boyle Circuit Judge Darren Peckler.

Last week, Peckler refused to sign off on a deal in which Goodlett would enter an Alford plea to 36 counts of theft over $300 in exchange for serving only one year of a 36-year sentence in prison, along with an additional two years of jail time she received from a 1999 theft case that she didn't have to serve. She would also have to pay restitution to the church.

In an Alford plea, the defendant does not admit guilt but agrees that there is enough evidence to convict. Goodlett originally pleaded not guilty to the charges but decided to enter the Alford Plea last month.

After Peckler rejected the plea agreement, Goodlett changed her plea back to not guilty.

Accused of stealing more than $49,000

Goodlett, 28, of Harrodsburg, was indicted last year on a charge of stealing more than $49,000 from the church between March 2003 and April 2004. As secretary, she is accused of writing extra checks on church accounts for her own benefit, and also writing checks for improper amounts and pocketing the difference.

Goodlett had worked for the church for about three years but had left her position before she was arrested on the theft charges in December. She remains free after posting 10 percent of a $10,000 cash bond.

Goodlett was still on probation from the 1999 case in which she was accused of stealing about $1,300 from a sporting goods store where she worked. In that case, she was sentenced to two years in prison, but prosecutors recommended her jail sentence be diverted in exchange for a guilty plea and she did not commit any other crimes for five years.

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