A Yuma County woman has been ordered to serve a three-year term of supervised probation and repay the Gadsden Elementary School District more than $2,600 after she pleaded guilty to felony theft and misusing public funds.
Carolina Carrazco served as a payroll specialist at Gadsden Elementary for several years A state audit eventually revealed she had tampered with the District’s payroll system from October 2017 through August 2019 to give herself and her dependents free health insurance.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office later secured a seven-count felony indictment which alleged Carrazco knowingly engaged in an ongoing scheme to obtain a benefit “by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises or material omissions.” Carrazco, 48, pleaded guilty last month to a Class 3 felony and a Class 4 felony as part of a plea deal instead of standing trial.
On March 17, Judge Bruce Nelson placed Carrazco on supervised probation. He also imposed several court fines and fees, and issued a restitution order of $2,645.14 to be paid to Gadsden Elementary in increments of $75 per month starting May 1.
The judge further imposed a 30-day deferred jail sentence which can be invoked by Carrazco’s probation officer in the event of any violations of probation conditions. Some of those conditions prohibit Carrazco from consuming alcohol or possessing a firearm.
In addition, she may not leave Santa Cruz County without prior approval of her probation officer. And she will be subjected to warrantless searches of her person and property.
If Carrazco does violation probation, Nelson can revoke probation and impose a prison sentence instead. The presumptive, or assumed, prison term for a Class 3 felony is 3.5 years while a Class 4 carries a presumptive of 2.5 years.
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