Jan. 19--
MONTGOMERY -- A federal district court judge sentenced a former volunteer firefighter who pleaded guilty to embezzling federal grant money from Friendship Volunteer Fire Department to five years of probation on Thursday.
"There is no excuse for my actions," said former Friendship Volunteer Fire Department Deputy Chief Angelia Curran as she stood before Judge W. Keith Watkins in federal court in Montgomery. " ... The only thing I can do is do better."
In October 2011 just before her trial was scheduled to begin, Curran pleaded guilty as part of an agreement to avoid incarceration, which could have been as long as 10 years in prison for the embezzlement charges.
Watkins accepted the agreement Thursday when he sentenced the former Smiths Station councilwoman to 60 months of probation, including six months of home confinement and electronic monitoring, and ordered her to pay $28,386.27 in restitution to Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Watkins said Curran could leave her home to work during her confinement, but for any other travel, she would need permission from the probation department for the U.S. Middle District of Alabama.
Citing the nature of the charges, Watkins also barred Curran from overseeing finances for anyone but her or her family.
Under the deal, Curran was also required to pay $5,000 in restitution to the court on Thursday, with the rest to be repaid in monthly installments of $389.77.
Curran was originally charged with three counts of embezzling federal grant money, but she was sentenced for only one after two were dropped as part of the deal.
The remaining count says Curran was acting in her official capacity as an agent of the fire department when she intentionally misapplied grant funds worth more than $5,000 for personal use.
"There was a lot of trust put into me in that position," she said. "And I let a lot of people down."
From 2005 to 2008, the volunteer fire department was awarded a series of grants -- applied for by Curran -- totaling almost $300,000, according to court documents.
Curran was indicted in July and initially pleaded not guilty to accusations she embezzled the federal grant funds meant for safety programs, equipment and training.
Copyright 2012 - Opelika-Auburn News, Ala.
