Bookeeper to be sentenced for taking $438K from employer

MOUNT HOLLY - A financial records keeper for a Hainesport company, who admitted draining it of $438,000 over a 10-year span, can expect to pay her debt to society with five years in prison.

Sarah A. Coon, 69, of Southampton, pleaded guilty to second-degree theft by deception and third-degree failure to pay New Jersey state income taxes. Her plea deal attaches the five-year term to the theft count, with three years for the tax charge to run concurrently, according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina's office.

Coon is also required to pay full restitution to Paul Davis Restoration and file state tax returns for the years 2007-2014. In return for her plea, charges against her husband and daughter will be dismissed.

Coon worked for Paul Davis Restoration for 22 years. She was arrested in April 2016, following an outside audit that the company ordered. The accountant discovered that Coon transferred the money to her personal credit-card accounts from 2004 to 2014, authorities said.

Her sentencing date is January 5, 2018.