Former Vienna Fiscal Officer rejects plea deal, bench trial set

Former Vienna Township fiscal officer Linda McCullough has rejected a plea deal in a case involving misappropriated funds in the township.

The plea deal offered by the state and rejected by McCullough included jail time. A jury trial was scheduled for Monday, June 16, but McCullough had waived her right to a jury trial.

Now, a bench trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Monday, meaning a judge will have to listen to all testimony given and make a verdict themselves without a jury.

McCullough is charged with several counts of tampering with records and theft in office, as well as one count of telecommunication fraud. She was charged after it was found that $116,370.82 worth of taxpayer money had allegedly been misappropriated by McCullough.

Vienna Township Trustee Phil Pegg was in the court room and tells 21 News he is still very much frustrated at the fact that McCullough is not taking the responsibility here.

"You robbed 4,000 people and that's the population of Vienna and she thinks she's going to get home arrest? No. We're still fighting for justice," Pegg said.
Pegg firmly denied giving any permission to use the funds.

"Does anyone believe the trustees OK'd for her to buy cigarettes with our credit card? Does anyone believe that she ordered parts for her business, on our credit card and it was O.K. with us? That never happened," Pegg said.

An indictment alleged that McCullough had used these funds to pay for personal expenses including charges on her credit card from businesses like Pitt Stop Brew Thru, Rotary Corporation, Spectrum, Walmart, Home Depot, Sam's Club, Lowe's, Amazon, Buena Vista, HF Everett Gas and Oil, Partzilla, Marathon Petro, Tractor Supply and Andrews Hardware.

The indictment states that these alleged thefts occurred between August of 2021 and March of 2024.

These allegedly misappropriated funds have caused several township employees including police officers and firefighters to be laid off from their jobs. 

You can read much more about this case in our related coverage below.

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Vienna Township trustees announce layoffs of two police officers, three firefighters

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