MCALESTER, Okla. (AP) - A former McAlester Public Schools superintendent and her husband have been charged with embezzlement.
Former Superintendent Marsha Gore has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of embezzlement, the McAlester News-Capital (https://bit.ly/1VHcStI ) reported. Her husband, Joseph “Skip” Gore, faces a felony embezzlement charge.
The charges were filed Friday in Pittsburg County District Court.
Skip Gore is accused of fraudulently accepting a travel allowance while he continued using a fuel card belonging to the district. Court documents say he appropriated more than $5,000 in January 2015 while he was the district’s plant operation director.
Marsha Gore is accused of fraudulently appropriating more than $80 in December 2013 and nearly $250 in July 2015.
She is accused of incurring the December 2013 expense to the school district by eating at the Red Lobster in Muskogee with three other family members. She said that she believed the dinner was a justifiable purchase because they were on their way to Hobby Lobby to purchase items for the school, according to Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Agent John Jones.
Marsha Gore’s second charge stems from restaurants and a hotel bill incurred on a trip she and her husband took to Durant during a visit from President Barack Obama. Marsha Gore said she believed the spending was justified because they were representing the school on the trip.
A prosecutor told The Associated Press that the couple appeared in court Monday with counsel for an arraignment, so they will not be arrested.
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Information from: McAlester News-Capital, https://www.mcalesternews.com
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