VIENNA TWP., Ohio - Former Vienna Township Fiscal Officer Linda McCullough has entered a guilty plea just as her bench trial was scheduled to begin Monday morning.

McCullough pled guilty to all charges against her including two counts of theft in office, one count of telecommunications fraud and seven counts of tampering with records after previously rejecting a plea deal last Wednesday.

McCullough did not enter any sort of plea agreement when pleading guilty to these charges.

The charges stem from over $116,000 worth of taxpayer funds that were misappropriated when McCullough spent them on credit card payments for personal expenses 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.

In all, it was found that McCullough had misappropriated a total of $116,370.82 worth of taxpayer funds between August of 2021 and March of 2024.

Nearly two dozen township residents packed into the courtroom Monday morning to show their anger. 

“There’s thousands of people that are victims in this,” Roseann Kennedy, a Vienna Township Resident said. “...At first it was hard to believe that she stole money, I thought it was just incompetence.”

Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor, Charles Morrow, called this a continuous pattern not just a mistake when McCullough made 127 transfers over the course of several years.

“She had linked the Vienna Township bank account…to her own login…and therefore was able just to seamlessly electronically make the transfers from the Vienna Township account to pay her credit card accounts,” Morrow said.

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

"It’s sad, its really sad what our township is going through and this should never happened," Kennedy said. 

McCullough said in court that she's prepared to pay back all the money immediately.

Vienna Township Trustee Phill Pegg told 21 News there's not many checks and balances they can put in place to make sure this doesn't happen in the future because the township is bound by Ohio Revised Code. Pegg added that they’re doing what they can to gain back some trust.

"We've hired new people in several of the departments," Pegg said. "The township is looking great.”

Pegg said once this criminal case closes the township will move forward with a civil lawsuit to try and get back more money that they feel the deserve. 

McCullough is set to be sentenced for her crimes on July 22. Prosecutors are recommending she receive a sentence of up to 27 years in prison.

You can read more about McCullough's crimes and the aftereffects of them in our related coverage below.

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