ATHENS COUNTY, Ohio — Jacqulyn (Brandi) Sanders, former fiscal officer for the Corrections Commission of Southeastern Ohio, was sentenced earlier this year to two years of probation after being convicted of a payroll scheme. The investigation into the scheme was conducted by the Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and is detailed in a special audit released on Tuesday.
Sanders’ sentencing in January 2023 was preceded by an internal review by the Commission, which identified irregularities in her sick and vacation leave accruals. The Commission’s independent accounting firm conducting its regular financial audit was then notified of the issue, which prompted SIU to launch an investigation in February 2020.
As the fiscal officer, Sanders was responsible for entering employee payroll data for the Commission. SIU discovered that Sanders had used accrued leave on multiple occasions but failed to enter the hours into the Commission’s payroll system. She also gave herself an additional accrual of leave not authorized, overstating her earned sick and vacation leave balances by 71 hours and 52 hours, respectively.
The issue was discovered, state investigators said, before Sanders received her severance payout, so the Commission did not suffer any monetary loss.
Sanders pleaded guilty in December 2022 to a misdemeanor count of tampering with records and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Both were suspended, pending the successful completion of probation.
