PITTSBURGH – A resident of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court in Pittsburgh to 21 months’ imprisonment and three years’ supervised release on her conviction of wire fraud, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.
Senior United States District Judge Nora Berry Fischer imposed the sentence on Tammy Laird, 49, of Corsica, Pennsylvania.
According to information presented to the court, from January 2009 through August 2017, while Laird was employed as the Secretary and Treasurer of Corsica Borough, she defrauded the borough of more than $300,000 by issuing checks from the borough’s bank accounts to her father, her husband, and herself, by extracting funds from the borough’s bank accounts to pay personal expenses and credit card bills, and by making personal purchases on the borough’s business account at Staples. To hide her activity, Laird supplied the Corsica Borough Council and state auditors with altered bank statements and other falsified financial documentation. In 2020, Laird entered a guilty plea to all 26 counts of wire fraud charged.
Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Fischer stated that although Laird had demonstrated remorse and post-conviction rehabilitation efforts, she had perpetrated a multi-year fraud upon the borough, a small community with very limited operating funds, and as such, she deserved a sentence of imprisonment commensurate with the significant financial harm caused. Judge Fischer further ordered Laird to pay restitution to Corsica Borough in the amount of $265,200.79.
Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Chung commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Laird.