A former Chicago Public Schools teaching assistant was sentenced to four years of
probation after she admitted stealing more than $24,000 from a Northwest Side
school to pay off credit card bills, prosecutors said.
Sonia Lopez, 50, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of felony theft before
Judge Maura Slattery-Boyle.
In addition to probation, Slattery-Boyle ordered Lopez to repay $24,544.69 to
the school that she stole from, said Lisa Gordon, a spokeswoman for the Cook
County state's attorney's office.
Lopez had served as a teaching assistant and worked in other positions at
Thurgood Marshall Middle School, 3900 N. Lawndale Ave., prosecutors said when
she was arrested and charged in August. Lopez had worked for the school since
1994.
Her responsibilities included collecting student fees, making bank deposits
and paying bills, prosecutors said last year.
Prosecutors determined that Lopez had issued 14 fraudulent checks to herself
totaling more than $21,000. Lopez hid the thefts by falsifying school records to
make it appear that they were for legitimate purchases.
Lopez also pocketed nearly $3,000 in cash collected from students for fees
and other payments, prosecutors said.
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