Jail time sought for parish bookkeeper Dianne Coady

A St. John's woman, who admitted to defrauding St. Patrick's Roman Catholic parish of more than $300,000will be sentenced next month.

Dianne Clare Coady, 69, brought a carry-on sizedsuitcase to her court appearance on Wednesday, prepared for the possibility that a judge would send her to jail.

Coady, who had worked at the parish as a bookkeeper as well as a cook, had pleaded guilty in November.

• Parish bookkeeper to be sentenced for defrauding church

However, the judge decided to sentenceCoady in February, after the Crown and defence suggested possible sentences for the former long-time employee.

Crown prosecutor Mike Murray is asking that Coadyserve14 to16 months in jail, in addition to paying the money back.

"Little old ladies dropped money into the collection plate, and it went intoCoady'spocket," said Murray.

He added that Coady abused a position of trust, carried out the frauds over a long period of time, and has shown little remorse.

Defence lawyer Amanda MacDougallis asking for 14 to16 months of house arrest and two years'probation. The defenceagreedCoadyshould repay the stolen money.

MacDougalltold the court that Coady took responsibility for her actions by pleading guilty and is willing to pay the money back.

A pre-sentence report indicated that Coady is a low-risk to re-offend.

Priest discovered fraud

Coady facedthree charges, including theft over $5,000, fraud over $5,000, and uttering forged documents.

The offencesoccurred between Jan.1, 2007 and July 31, 2012 while she was workingforthe church.An audit done for the Archdiocese of St. John's found that more than $306,000 was unaccounted for over that period of time.

Most of the money camefrom cheques that were meant to go to companies or over individuals.

Coady was caught after she askedFather Wayne Doheyto sign a blank cheque he was told was for a phone bill. Dohey took note of the cheque number, and noticed that Coady was the payee.

The priest reported his suspicions to the archdiocese business office, triggering an external forensic audit by the firm Grant Thornton.

The results of the audit were receivedlast January, and the police were called in.

Coady will be back in provincial court on Feb. 2.