SNOW HILL, Md. - A Berlin woman who was convicted of embezzling from an Ocean City church has been sentenced to ten years in prison.
The Office of the State's Attorney for Worcester County said Theresa Kolacz, 51 of Berlin, was sentenced to serve 10 years in the state's division of corrections after she was convicted of theft over $100,000, embezzlement and forgery.
The charges stem from an incident in May 2018.
St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church in Ocean City called police, saying they believed Kolacz was stealing money from them. At the time, Kolacz was the church's secretary and bookkeeper.
An investigation into the church's records found that over the span of two years, Kolacz stole $141,609 from the church. The State's Attorney says she primarily did so by writing unauthorized checks to herself and taking cash that should have been deposited into the church’s bank account.
Then, police said Kolacz admitted to police she had stolen money donated to the church as well as rent the church received from it's rental properties.
Kolacz was convicted of those charges in court on December 6, 2018.