IMAGE BY: Google
Mercer County authorities reported today that a former employee of the Princeton Public Schools had been charged with stealing and selling more than $95,000 of school district property for personal gain.
Officials say a criminal complaint was signed charging April Taylor, 58, of Philadelphia, PA, with two counts of second-degree official misconduct, second-degree pattern of official misconduct, second-degree theft by deception, second-degree theft by unlawful taking, second-degree impersonation, and second-degree and third-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity.
Taylor was employed by the Princeton Public Schools from 2000 to 2021, most recently as a purchasing agent. She was arrested on Monday, October 3, and released pending future court proceedings.
Taylor’s criminal acts were uncovered in July 2021 when the Princeton Public Schools business administrator became aware she had purchased a MacBook computer using a forged purchase order and sold it on eBay. After several months of investigation, the Princeton Board of Education commissioned a forensic audit.
According to the 44-page forensic audit report, Taylor used her position as a purchasing agent to create fraudulent purchase requisitions totaling $95,640.04 under state security or technology funds specifically allocated for the Princeton schools from various vendors.
She ordered items and either kept them for her benefit or sold them for a profit. Electronic devices sold by Taylor were recovered in Colorado, South Carolina, Cherry Hill, NJ, and Pittsburgh, PA.
Video evidence of Taylor picking up custom interior doors at a building supply store in Hamilton was also obtained.
The charges result from an investigation by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Public Corruption Unit and the Princeton Police Department, specifically Princeton Detective Eric Dawson.
Assistant Prosecutor Taylor S. Hicks is prosecuting the case. Second-degree crimes carry a penalty of five to 10 years in state prison and a $150,000 fine. Third-degree crimes carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a $15,000 fine.
Taylor was suspended from the school district in July 2021 and resigned a few months later.