Grand Isle treasurer admits embezzlement
Suspended Grand Isle County Treasurer Theresa "Terri" Blow admitted to a federal judge Tuesday morning that she stole money from the county courthouse, a parent-child center and from a longtime South Hero lawyer.
Blow, 65, of South Hero entered the guilty plea to a single embezzlement charge. Authorities said she stole roughly $105,000 while serving as an independent bookkeeper and working at a local law firm.
Blow never said — and wasn't asked —in U.S. District Court what she did with the stolen money.
On her walk into the courthouse Blow did not respond to media questions, including whether she planned to resign as the appointed treasurer or if she had anything to say to Grand Isle County taxpayers.
"We have nothing to say right now. We will be speaking in court," her defense lawyer Mark Kaplan told reporters.
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Blow and Kaplan never addressed either question during the 20-minute hearing before Senior Federal Judge William K. Sessions III.
The government is seeking forfeiture of property to offset the estimated loss, according to the felony charge filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.
Waples told the court Blow would write unauthorized and forged checks to herself and also to a carpentry business, Prowood Inc., owned by her husband, Michael R. Blow, 60, of South Hero.
No charges have been filed against her husband.
Restitution has yet to be determined.
The embezzlements became public June 12 when a Burlington Free Press story disclosed that about $40,000 was reported missing from the Grand Isle County courthouse, about $63,000 from the Champlain Islands Parent-Child Center and $3,400 from the law office of David C. Carter.
Repeated attempts this summer by the Free Press to reach Theresa Blow by phone, email and in person at her rented home on Station Road to seek comment have been unsuccessful.
Blow, who arrived at the federal courthouse without any family or supporters, will be sentenced Feb. 2.
The penalty will be based in part on the federal sentencing guidelines, which are advisory. By pleading guilty at her initial court appearance, Blow is hoping to get credit for acceptance of responsibility.
The maximum penalty is up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and supervised release for up to three years when freed from prison, Sessions said.
Blow, under questioning from Sessions, told the court she has been seeing a doctor for both anxiety and high blood pressure.
Sessions agreed to release Blow on conditions pending a pre-sentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Department. Sessions struck a proposal for drug testing, but did require Blow to refrain from abusing alcohol. He also ordered her to avoid any witnesses and banned weapons possession.
Blow was a contract bookkeeper with the parent-child center from about 2009 until March 2014. She served as the part-time county treasurer from about 2008 to March 2014. She also worked full-time and part-time for Carter. the lawyer, from about 1999 to March 2014.
The child-care center received benefits in excess of $10,000 in federal grants, contacts, loans and other programs, the criminal charge notes.
Grand Isle County Assistant Judges Sherri Potvin and Joanne Batchelder placed Blow on unpaid administrative leave in March from her part-time government job, which paid about $5,600 a year, after questions were raised about balances in county accounts.
The judges filed a criminal complaint with Grand Isle County Sheriff Ray Allen, who said he passed it to state police to avoid any possible appearance of a conflict of interest. As the investigation by state police unfolded, investigators determined there had been at least three embezzlements. The FBI later joined the case.
Contact Mike Donoghue at 660-1845 or mdonoghue@freepressmedia.com. Follow Mike on Twitter at www.twitter.com/FreepsMikeD.