Former DeKalb school employee sentenced to 180 days in jail for stealing over $140K from union

DeKALB – A former DeKalb school district employee was sentenced to 180 days in DeKalb County Jail after pleading guilty to stealing more than $140,000 from the district’s school assistants’ union in 2016.

Kandis M. Talley, 64, of the 8100 block of Rich Road, DeKalb, agreed to a sentence of 180 days in jail and four years of probation in exchange for a guilty plea to theft, a Class 1 felony. Talley served as treasurer to the school assistants’ union until 2016.

DeKalb County Judge Marcy Buick accepted Talley’s guilty plea Feb. 17, according to DeKalb County court records. She also ordered Talley to pay $90,000 in restitution on that date. Assistant State’s Attorney Suzi Collins prosecuted the case.

DeKalb County State’s Attorney Rick Amato said Wednesday he could not confirm the specific date of when Talley will be released from jail, citing safety reasons.

“But I can confirm she is currently there with more than a majority of her time to serve,” Amato said.

Talley served as treasurer of the union for about 20 years until June 2016, according to a Tuesday news release from the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office. During that time, she stole more than $140,000 from the union by writing herself checks or by writing out checks to “cash,” according to the release.

After the union elected a new board, union officials discovered accounting inconsistencies in 2016. Talley admitted she stole the money when she was confronted by police.

The union’s insurance carrier provided the $50,000 difference from the more than $140,000 total amount stolen, according to the state’s attorney’s office.

Amato said in the news release that, while people often refer to financial crimes like this one as a victimless crime, he believes it’s not true.

“In this case, while Ms. Talley was this union’s treasurer, not only did she betray their trust, members were told that they could not file grievances because of a lack of funds,” Amato said in the news release. “In fact, the funds would have been available, had this defendant not stolen them. Financial crimes cause great harm to victims, often forcing businesses to close or families to declare bankruptcy.”

Michelle Dietrich, Talley’s lawyer and public defender for DeKalb County, was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday afternoon.

This story may be updated as more information becomes available.