A former Collier County Public Schools employee who stole thousands of dollars from an elementary school pleaded guilty to one count and no contest to another.
Cecilia Andrea Hernandez, 50, of Naples, pleaded guilty to grand theft and no contest to trespassing. Collier Circuit Judge John McGowan sentenced her to three years of probation.
The theft happened while Hernandez worked as the office manager at Sabal Palm Elementary School, 4095 18th Ave. N.E. The school district fired her May 25, 2022, Chadwick Oliver, spokesperson for Collier County schools, previously wrote in a statement. Police arrested her in April.
School officials were investigating a budget discrepancy when they discovered more than $4,500 raised during the school’s 2021 book fair was missing, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
When school officials questioned Hernandez about the missing money, she told them she planned on depositing it later in the day. When they asked her to produce the money, she told them it was spread out in different places, including her personal bank account.