The case against an Ansonia woman accused of stealing more than $20,000 from an elementary school’s parent-teacher organization was continued for the 11th time Thursday at Superior Court in Milford.
The woman, Kelly Kahyaoglu, will return to court Nov. 19, at which point the first-degree larceny charge police lodged against her last June could be resolved.
Police say Kahyaoglu, once the president of the PTO at Prendergast School, took advantage of shoddy accounting practices to steal money from the organization for her personal use, buying everything from clothes to pool supplies, and using the PTO’s debit card to take out $9,000 cash.
Kahyaoglu had pleaded guilty to the charge in April in a plea deal that gave a judge discretion to sentence Kahyaoglu to no jail time at all or up to three years behind bars.
But Kahyaoglu’s lawyer, Public Defender Favid Egan, later filed a motion to withdraw the guilty plea because he said Kahyaoglu qualifies for accelerated rehabilitation, a special form of probation that allows for criminal charges against a defendant to be dismissed if they don’t run afoul of the law.
The program is commonly granted to non-violent first-time offenders.
The lawyer said Kahyaoglu pleaded guilty in April with the understanding that she could apply for accelerated rehabilitation if she came up with $21,000 to pay back the PTO by the time of her sentencing date.
She has since paid the money back, he said.
Assistant State’s Attorney Amy Bepko objected to Egan’s motion to withdraw Kahyaoglu’s guilty plea last month, and Kahyaoglu was scheduled to appear in court Thursday, but Bepko was out of the office, so the case was continued to Nov. 19.
