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Woman gets jail time for stealing $75K from northwest Arizona school district

Posted at 11:09 AM, Feb 08, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-08 14:09:11-05

A deceased western Arizona school district's official's 31-year-old daughter faces a year in jail and must pay restitution after being sentenced in the theft of more than $75,000 from the district.

Sarah Mae Diaz pleaded guilty in December to fraud and theft charges that she misused Topock Elementary School District credit cards to make personal purchases and pay her personal bills.

The Arizona Attorney General's Office says the scheme came to light when a bank teller who knew Diaz wasn't a district employee saw her cashing district checks.

Diaz was sentenced Monday. Her mother was Kimberly Konnerth, who was the district's business manager. She died in 2017 of cancer.

The state Auditor General's Office reported that Konnerth allegedly misused over $236,000 in school district money over roughly five years.