After stealing more than $66,000, former Bishop Animal Shelter employee gets prison and order to repay

A former Bishop Animal Shelter employee who stole more than $66,000 took a plea deal Tuesday and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Gail Lynne Judah, 48, pleaded no contest to scheming to defraud more than $50,000 as she was initially charged. As part of a plea deal, Judah was sentenced to two years in prison followed by 15 months probation.

As part of the deal, Judah was ordered to pay full restitution.

“I truly believe that she is going to pay for what she’s doing,” Bishop Director Keith Pratt told the Herald on Wednesday. “We are very happy that this has come to an end and the full restitution was ordered.”

Judah was fired from Bishop when the missing money was discovered. After conducting it’s own internal investigation, Bishop approached the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office with evidence of the stolen money. Bishop’s paperwork revealed cash missing from donations and adoptions from 2008-15.

During that time, Judah was the only employee with access to proceeds from donations and adoptions. In the wake of Judah’s arrest, Bishop changed its policies and procedures on how it processes adoptions and donations.

“We have checks or balances now and it takes two to three people ... to ensure that this never happens again,” Pratt said.

Judah, who had been out on a $50,000 bond, was remanded into the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office custody following the hearing to be later transported to the Department of Corrections. After Judah is released from prison, she will be prohibited from working in dealing with money.

This story was originally published September 6, 2017 at 7:21 PM with the headline "After stealing more than $66,000, former Bishop Animal Shelter employee gets prison and order to repay."