CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield man accused of taking money from his employer pleaded guilty recently in Clearfield County Court.
James Edward O’Dell, 48, 406 Turnpike Ave., Clearfield, pleaded guilty to 30 counts of computer trespass, five counts of theft by deception and 17 counts of access device fraud.
He was sentenced to nine months to two years less one day in jail and three years consecutive probation. He was fined $3,695 and must pay restitution of more than $2,700.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, an investigation began after police received a call May 23 regarding a theft at Radio Shack. The staff had a printout of information collected on an employee, O’Dell, who was suspected of stealing from the business beginning in December of 2012.
He was allegedly making false refunds and crediting his bank account with the money. These returns totaled $1,380.12.
In a written statement taken by the staff, he admitted to stealing retail merchandise as well and supplied a list of what he had taken. These items totaled $199.
Another employee told police that O’Dell used a computer at the store to process a payment for a cellular phone plan using his debit card. Just after the process was complete, he shut down the terminal, which credited the cellular phone but did not deduct any money from his account. The amount of money involved with these transactions was $264.49.
When officers spoke with O’Dell, he admitted to all the fraudulent activity and said he was sorry. He said he had been “doing this for so long” that he was unsure of the amount of money involved.