Embezzler given home detentionWoman took $145,000 from Mount Pleasant

A former Mount Pleasant clerk who stole about $145,000 from the town was sentenced to one year of home detention Thursday after she made full restitution.

Isabelle Perdue, 46, asked for forgiveness for her crimes as she apologized to the town, its police and citizens.

"All I ask is a second chance to make amends," she said through tears inside the Charleston County Judicial Center.

Mount Pleasant police had asked for some period of incarceration. But Circuit Judge Roger Young said sending Perdue to an already crowded prison system for a non-violent offense would not add to her rehabilitation, considering she's lost her husband to divorce, her home and her standing in the community.

Young did note that the town's reputation suffered as well, in part because Perdue "stole from right under the police chief's nose."

Perdue, a former grants coordinator and payroll clerk at the police department, pleaded guilty in June to two counts of embezzlement of public funds over $5,000. She had faced a maximum of 10 years in prison on each count.

Authorities say she defrauded the police department by paying herself about $50,000 in extras during a six-year period. She forged documents and collected sometimes hundreds of dollars per pay period she shouldn't have received.

In addition, at least 14 grant checks, ranging from $1,000 to more than $25,000, were diverted to her personal account, police said.

Perdue was arrested in April 2006, about two months after she had resigned her position with the town. Her scheme was so sophisticated that auditors did not discover what she was doing for some time, officials said. She'd been with the town for 14 years.

Though Perdue pleaded guilty last year, her sentencing was postponed until now while a pre-sentencing report was completed; it recommended probation.

Perdue's full sentence was 10 years in prison, suspended to one year of home detention and five years of probation. She also must continue mental health counseling. She was bi-polar and had used shopping as an outlet for stress in the same way an alcoholic uses alcohol, said defense attorney Barry Krell.

Part of her restitution came from the sale of her home. She already has spent two years in home detention.

Mount Pleasant Police Chief Harry Sewell said Perdue's solo action violated public trust and led to outside scrutiny of the department. As for Young's decision to reject prison time for Perdue, Sewell said "I have to support our criminal justice system."

Reach Schuyler Kropf at skropf @postandcourier.com or 937-5551.