Posted 10:52 pm Wednesday, December 12, 2012
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Former clerk pleads guilty to two charges
Former Deputy Anderson County Clerk Bridgette Renee Franklin pleaded guilty to two felony charges, one for theft and another for misapplication of funds totaling $32,000, according District Attorney Doug Lowe.
Ms. Franklin was fired by Anderson County Clerk Wanda Burke in May 2011 after an investigation by the district attorney's office uncovered at least 918 occasions where money paid for marriage licenses, birth certificates and death certificates was "skimmed" by Franklin.
She had worked in the clerk's office since 2006.
By pleading guilty on Monday, Ms. Franklin avoided a jury trial.
District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans heard Franklin's guilty plea and scheduled a punishment hearing on Feb. 11.
The theft by public servant charge is a third-degree felony, carrying a potential punishment of two to 10 years in prison. The misapplication of fiduciary funds case is a state jail felony punishable by imprisonment for six months to two years.
