GRAFTON, W.Va. – Taylor County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Hoxie has sentenced a former Taylor County Schools employee for theft of money from the district.
Prosecutor John Bord had originally charged Jessica Efaw with 17 counts but reached a plea deal in which she admitted to one count each of embezzlement, falsifying documents, and fraudulent schemes.
Judge Hoxie sentenced Efaw to 1 to 10 years in state prison for the embezzlement charge and probation for falsifying documents and fraudulent schemes after she completed her prison sentence. Efaw has also been required to repay $12,500.
“Judge Hoxie needed to send a message in Taylor County, and I think he did today,” Bord said of the sentence.
Court documents show Efaw took the money from October 2022 through March 2023. She was indicted in April of 2023.
“She stole from West Taylor Elementary School, a school in the western end of the county, and she actually stole $12,500,” Bord said.
As a secretary at West Taylor Elementary School, Efaw had access to credit cards from the Taylor County Board of Education. Bord said she would make purchases with the credit cards and use a purchase order system to charge the amount spent to one of many school groups, like the Parent-Teacher Organization or the Library Fund.
“She was buying clothes for herself; she was having her nails done; she was having her hair done; and she was buying things for her family she didn’t have to do,” Bord said.
Previously, Bord told WAJR News that Efaw admitted to making a mistake but showed no remorse.