ADRIAN — Trial dates have been set for a former Blissfield village employee who’s accused of embezzling more than $20,000 from the village.
Holly Sue Koester, 41, of Palmyra is charged with embezzlement $20,000 to $50,000. During a pretrial hearing Wednesday with Lenawee County Circuit Judge Michael R. Olsaver, Koester’s attorney, Patrick Bagley of Waterford, and Lenawee County Assistant Prosecutor Phebie McClure agreed to starting the trial on Tuesday, Oct. 8, with the expectation it could run through the following week.
“We have a lot of witnesses,” Bagley said.
Koester was charged in June 2022. She resigned from her position with the village in May 2022. She usually would work the village office’s front desk and handle customer payments, village treasurer Brandon Hudson testified during a preliminary examination that was conducted in April and May 2023 in Lenawee County District Court. During the examination, accountants hired by the village testified about inconsistencies that were discovered in the village’s finances between September 2018 and December 2019. A forensic accountant testified to 242 transactions involving $27,560.52 in “diverted” village funds.
Olsaver last month denied Bagley’s motion to quash the bindover from district court. On Wednesday, Bagley said he would need time to conduct discovery and prepare for the case.
McClure said Bagley should have all of the information available from the prosecutor’s office. She said because of the expected length of the trial and other cases on the court’s docket, the earliest it likely could begin would be August or September.
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Bagley asked for this trial to be scheduled after another trial he has scheduled at the beginning of September.
Another pretrial hearing was scheduled for July 17, and a final pretrial hearing was set for Sept. 25.
Koester is free on bond. She and the attorneys appeared Wednesday by video. She faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000 or three times the amount embezzled if convicted.
— Contact reporter David Panian at [email protected] or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Trial dates set in Blissfield embezzlement case
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