Community Corner
Carlsbad Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing $240K from Mother, Elks Lodge
Morri Lee Kelsey's prosecutor said she used the money to feed her gambling addiction.
A Carlsbad woman who used forged checks to take about $70,000 from her mother after stealing more than $170,000 from the Oceanside Elks Lodge pleaded guilty Monday to theft from an elder, identity theft and embezzlement.
The woman apparently took the funds to feed a gambling habit, according to a prosecutor.
Morri Lee Kelsey, 58, faces a maximum two years and four months in state prison when she is sentenced July 11, said Deputy District Attorney Bruce Silva.
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Kelsey -- who lived with her mother -- started using forged checks to take money from the older woman after being charged with stealing from the Elks Lodge where she worked as a bookkeeper for seven years, the prosecutor said.
Silva said Kelsey stole approximately $170,000 from Elks Lodge 1561 between 2009 and 2012.
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–City News Service
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