NORWICH – A former NBT Bank employee appeared in Chenango County Court Friday and pleaded guilty to stealing about $78,000 from her employer.
Throwing herself at the mercy of the court, 27-year-old Kimberly N. Aitken of Doing Road, Norwich, admitted her guilt before Judge W. Howard Sullivan without any plea deal offered from prosecutors.
“There is no plea arrangement. She just plans to plead guilty to the indictment. It’s a one count indictment, grand larceny in the second degree,” said Aitken’s defense attorney, Leslie Lewis of New Hartford.
Aitken said she stole $77,797.50 between February 2008 and March 17, 2009 when she worked as a teller supervisor at NBT’s main branch on South Broad Street in the City of Norwich.
“I would take money from my drawer and put it into my account or take the money from our ED machine, which dispenses money, and put it into my account and buy that money into my drawer,” she told Sullivan.
“You understand that the maximum period of incarceration is five to 15 years in a New York State correctional facility,” asked Sullivan.
“Yes,” said Aitken.
Following the plea, District Attorney Joseph McBride asked that Aitken be remanded to the Chenango County Correctional Facility pending her sentencing date.
“Throughout the course of the proceedings in this matter, my client has always come to court as directed. She is here today. She has admitted that she’s guilty of what she’s charged with,” Lewis said. “She has always known that she was facing five to 15 years in prison, maximum five to 15 years in prison. There has never been any indication by myself or anything conveyed to me that she would run away and not be here. She has very limited financial means. Her whole family is in the area. She really has no place to go other than right here,” she said.
Sullivan disagreed and remanded Aitken to jail without bail.
“The difference between when she walked in to when she walked out, she now has a conviction and the stakes are somewhat higher. I am going to remand Miss Aitken today and we’ll have you back for sentencing at a future date,” ordered the judge.
Aitken was arrested April 17, 2009 by the Norwich City Police after bank security reported the findings of an in-house investigation into the missing funds.
“The bank’s robust security and investigative department notified the Norwich Police Department that they had uncovered a situation with one of the bank’s employees. They provided documentation that greatly assisted the Norwich PD and the Chenango County District Attorney’s Office with filing the appropriate charges,” said Norwich Police Chief Joseph Angelino .
NBT Vice President and Director of Marketing Florence Doller said the company could not comment on personnel issues, but was working cooperatively with law enforcement.
“We have checks and balances in place to ensure our policies are followed and if an employee were to commit a dishonest act, our customers and their funds would always be fully protected from any loss,” she said.