The former business manager of a Santa Rosa charter school pleaded guilty Monday to three felonies in the embezzlement of almost $400,000 from the school.
Sheila Accornero, 43, the former Kid Street Learning Center employee, showed no emotion as she admitted the theft, which police said was used to fuel her prescription pill habit.
Accornero pleaded guilty to three of eight original felonies - grand theft, forgery and possession of a controlled substance - in exchange for a maximum sentence of no more than five years and eight months in prison.
Her lawyer, Steve Weiss, said she could be eligible for probation under the terms of her plea bargain agreement with prosecutors.
"We'll get a chance to argue for it at her sentencing," Weiss said in the hallway.
Accornero had faced a maximum eight-year sentence if convicted of all the charges at her trial, which was set for later this month.
In November she was considering a plea bargain with a maximum six-year prison sentence but negotiations stalled when Judge Gary Medvigy refused to guarantee that he would not sentence her to state prison.
Despite recent changes in sentencing laws, Accornero would not be eligible to serve her time in county jail.
Prosecutor Bill Brockley said the agreement was fair. He said he will seek restitution of $396,633.
"She's taken responsibility for the theft," Brockley said after the hearing. "School officials feel more at ease knowing they don't have to testify."
She'll be sentenced Feb. 28.
Accornero has been in jail since her August arrest. She spoke little at Monday's hearing, saying only "guilty" when Medvigy asked her how she pleaded to the three charges.
A group of supporters talked to her lawyer in the hallway after the hearing. School officials were not present.
Kid Street Principal Linda Conklin did not return a phone call or email Monday seeking comment.
Former board member Pete Magrini Jr. said the theft had a big effect on the school, which serves 48 at-risk students through sixth grade and has an annual budget of $620,000.
"It was a shame it happened," said Magrini, who has since moved to Washington state. "I'm glad to hear some justice has been done."
Accornero had worked as the school's business manager since 2005. She was named a suspect after a credit union employee noticed deposits into her account.
Police said that from 2008 to 2011, Accornero wrote hundreds of checks to herself for $1,000 or less, forging her principal's signature on them. The theft escaped detection by annual audits, school district reviews and the school's bank.
The money was used to buy drugs. Accornero was on probation for forging a prescription at the time of her arrest.
In addition to pleading guilty to grand theft with white-collar crime enhancements and forgery, Accornero admitted to illegal possession of OxyContin, hydrocodone and Vicodin.
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