Former Schuyler County Tax Collector Sentenced on Federal Charges Related to Her Embezzlement of $568,000

ST. LOUIS—Kathy Sue Roberts was sentenced to 33 months in prison on charges involving her embezzlement of over $568,000 from Schuyler County tax funds between January 1992 and August 2011. In addition to her prison sentence, she was ordered to pay restitution of $568,974.

According to court documents, Roberts has served as the elected collector for Schuyler County since 1987. As the elected Schuyler collector, Roberts received cash payments for county taxes and used the money for personal purposes instead of depositing the money into the county’s bank account. She issued the county residents tax receipts for the cash payments, but did not include copies of those tax receipts with other tax receipts used to reconcile the monthly tax income and bank deposit for the county. In order to conceal her scheme, Roberts made sure that delinquent tax notices were not sent out to those residents who had paid their taxes. Additionally, on some occasions, Roberts issued Schuyler County checks to herself and deposited them into her own personal bank account without the authority of the county.

Roberts, 52, Downing, Missouri, pled guilty last December to one felony count of mail fraud and appeared today for sentencing before United States District Judge Carol E. Jackson.

This case was investigated by the Kirksville Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, with the assistance of the Missouri State Auditor’s Office and the Schuyler County Sheriff. Assistant United States Attorney Hal Goldsmith handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.