Ex-Wright clerk to pay restitution in misconduct case

PHOTOGRAPHER: R. J. Kelly

Former Wright town clerk Marilyn Wetsel was sentenced Monday to pay $3,500 in restitution for official misconduct in the handling of town and state accounts and records for various fees.

Wetsel pleaded guilty to the charge Jan. 28, according to Schoharie County Assistant District Attorney Thomas F. Garner.

She was sentenced by Schoharie Town Justice Kenneth C. Knutson. The case had been moved to the Schoharie court after Wright justices recused themselves, according to officials.

Wetsel, 63, resigned from her elected position in October 2006, after a town-hired auditor found inadequate bookkeeping and funds not properly accounted for. After an investigation by state police and District Attorney James Sacket, Wetsel was charged with the class A misdemeanor last August.

The charge carried the potential of up to a one-year jail term. Her conviction also bars Wetsel from holding elective office, Sacket said.

The sentence agreement also includes a one-year conditional discharge and unsupervised probation. That generally means that if Wetsel avoids legal trouble for one year, the charge will be dismissed.