FORMER ROANE CHIEF TAX DEPUTY SENTENCED 1-10 FOR EMBEZZLEMENT - Dougherty Ordered To Pay $150,000

(02/21/2014)

Judge David W. Nibert has sentenced former Roane Co. chief tax deputy Patricia Dougherty, 53, to one to ten years in prison for embezzlement. Dougherty had plead guilty to charges in December. Other charges were dropped, but Dougherty was ordered to pay back $96,000 and other costs totaling about $150,000, which included a forensic audit, according to special prosecutor Shannon Jones. She has already made partial restitution. Judge Nibert placed Dougherty on five years supervised probation following her prison sentence, remanding her to the custody of the Department of Corrections to serve her one to ten year sentence for embezzlement. Dougherty, who spent 20 years in the tax office under four sheriffs, resigned in January 2012 over allegations of missing money. Calhoun County Prosecuting Attorney Shannon Johnson was brought in as special prosecutor for the case. Johnson said officials had charged Dougherty in an information, a court document that cannot be filed without a defendant's permission, and usually indicates a defendant is cooperating with authorities.

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