Embezzling suspect in court

The financial manager of a Santa Rosa charter school accused of embezzling nearly $400,000 by budgetary sleight-of-hand to support a painkiller habit struggled to voice a response to a judge Thursday at her first appearance in Sonoma County Superior Court.

Sheila Accornero, in blue jail garb and long brown hair, nodded when a judge asked her if she understood her attorney's request to postpone a plea on charges of forgery, embezzlement and narcotics possession.

"You have to speak," Judge Ken Gnoss said.

She sniffed, cleared her throat and uttered a meek response: "Yes."

Investigators said Accornero, 42, drained $396,633.87 over the past 2? years from the bank accounts of the Kid Street Learning Center Charter School and the company that owns the school's building. They said she wrote hundreds of small checks to herself, none for more than $1,000.

The money appears to have gone "straight to prescription drugs," Sgt. Michael Lazzarini said Thursday. "It's mind-boggling how much. There are no pillows or mattresses stuffed with money. It's gone."

Detectives have just begun to analyze the school's finances to determine when Accornero began writing herself checks, how she covered the scheme and whether she used other means to drain funds from the school, said Sonoma County Deputy District Attorney Amy Ariyoshi.

Writing herself checks "is one way, but I can't say it's the only way, she embezzled money," Ariyoshi said.

The amount would be a significant loss for any entity but particularly a small school like Kid Street, District Attorney Jill Ravitch said.

"We'll do everything we can to get restitution for the victim," Ravitch said.

Kid Street, which is overseen by the Santa Rosa City Schools district, describes itself as serving the children of "families in crisis." It had about 50 students last year and operated on a $600,000 annual budget, with about one-third of the money coming from private grants and donations.

Kid Street Executive Director Linda Conklin, who watched from the gallery, left the courtroom in tears. Later, she said the allegations that the school was defrauded by Accornero shocked the school's staff and families.

"She was committed," Conklin said. "She never slacked."

Conklin declined to divulge Accornero's salary, saying she needed to first consult with an attorney before releasing the information. She also declined to comment on the alleged embezzlement, saying she didn't want to harm the police investigation.

"I am not hiding anything," Conklin said. "I am following the instructions of the district attorney and the Police Department."

She did say that the annual audits conducted for the school considered all revenue, both state funds and private donations.

Santa Rosa school officials said Thursday the audits only showed procedural problems, which were remedied, and gave no indication that money was being taken.

The school will open Monday for classes on the regularly scheduled first day of the new school year, Conklin vowed.

Accornero, who was on probation for a 2009 felony conviction involving prescription narcotics, faces two charges of felony embezzlement and three charges of forgery as well as narcotics possession, Ariyoshi said. She was being held without bail for violating the terms of her probation.

At Thursday's hearing, criminal defense attorney Steve Weiss asked the judge to postpone entering a plea until next week, and Gnoss set a hearing for Monday.

Accornero's mother and boyfriend attended, but declined to comment. Accornero, who is divorced, lives in Cloverdale with her mother and has two children, ages 11 and 17, a family member said.

A tip from a federal agency led detectives to the school's Davis Street campus.

About three months ago, staff from the U.S. Department of Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network called the District Attorney's Office and suggested investigators look into Accornero's personal finances, said Larae Archibald, investigator with the District Attorney's Office.

"Once I got her bank records, it appeared obvious that there were financial transactions that appeared suspicious," Archibald said.

Archibald and Santa Rosa police detectives met Tuesday with school staff.

"When we presented a little bit of knowledge to the administration, they said, &‘No, that wouldn't be normal, given her capacity here, to have that much money,' " Lazzarini said.

A look at the school's accounts showed Accornero had been writing a significant number of checks to herself, Lazzarini said. She was arrested Tuesday afternoon at the school.

Accornero appears to have written checks to herself every few days for small amounts, never for more than $1,000, dating back to December 2008, Lazzarini said. During one recent month, the checks added up to about $30,000, he said.

Accornero was hired as the school's finance and business manager in 2005. Investigators have so far looked at the school's financial accounting for the past 2? years.

Between December 2008 and Aug. 3, 2011, Accornero wrote checks to herself from the school's fund totaling $389,477.84 and another $7,156.03 from funds belonging to the company that owns the school campus, Lincoln Holding Company, Ariyoshi said.

Investigators have only begun to examine the school's finances and haven't determined if the checks were the only fraud method employed, Ariyoshi said.

What remains unclear is what information was available about Accornero's criminal past when she was hired, and why she kept her job after a felony conviction two years ago.

Conklin said Wednesday that Accornero had passed a background check. The principal said she had been aware her finance director was on probation but did not know the details of the conviction.

In 2009, Accornero was convicted of a felony drug charge for trying to fraudulently obtain prescription painkillers at a Healdsburg pharmacy, district attorney officials said. She was sentenced to three years' probation after pleading guilty to a single count of obtaining controlled substances by fraud, court files show.

Court records also show she was arrested three times in six months in late 2002 and early 2003.

The first case was for felony burglary in December of 2002. The case was dismissed in 2004 after she completed 18 months of probation.

While on probation, Accornero was arrested twice more.

In February of 2003, she was arrested on two misdemeanor theft charges, writing a bad check and grand theft. Two months later, she was arrested for petty theft with a prior conviction. All charges were dismissed in 2004 when she completed probation.