Treasurer Who Stole From Montco Volunteer Fire Company Gets Probation

NORRISTOWN, PA — A Montgomery County woman who admitted she embezzled more than $43,000 from the volunteer fire company where she served as treasurer has been sentenced in state court following a recent guilty plea.

Kengra S. Taylor, 48, of the Mont Clare section of Upper Providence Township, was handed a sentence of three years' probation, and she was also ordered to pay back $43,137.78 in restitution, according to court records in the case.

Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Wendy Rothstein, who oversaw the criminal case against Taylor in Norristown, sentenced the defendant on Oct. 7 after Taylor pleaded guilty to a single felony count of theft by unlawful taking.

Montgomery County prosecutors announced the filing of criminal charges against Taylor back in August 2020.

At the time, District Attorney Kevin Steele said that Taylor misappropriated more than $43,000 from the West End Fire Company in western Montgomery County, where she was a member and also served as the organization's volunteer treasurer.

Steele alleged that Taylor, who oversaw four bank accounts belonging to the fire company, embezzled money from the all-volunteer organization and used the funds to pay for personal expenses totaling 87 separate transactions.

The DA's Office said the expenses went to things like vacations, auto loans, retail purchases and purchases at two Harley Davidson dealerships.

"This volunteer fire company serving its community was taken advantage of by one of its own members, who they trusted," Steele said at the time of Taylor's August 2020 arrest. "It's unfortunate, but sadly, not completely uncommon."

Investigators said they had been tipped off in September 2019 to the thefts by the chief and president of the West End Fire Company, which is located in West Pottsgrove, Pa.

Prosecutors said that Taylor had opened up an unauthorized credit card account in the fire company's name and used the credit line, as well as the funds stolen from the company's other four bank accounts, for personal expenses from January 2019 until the theft was discovered in September of that year.

Taylor had also initially been charged with four additional felonies, but those charges were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea on the felony theft count, court records show.