Former Wiscasset town clerk Sandra Johnson will finish up the remainder of her nine-month sentence in an alternative sentencing program according to a spokesperson for the Two Bridges Regional Jail.
Johnson has already served half of her sentence at the Wiscasset facility and was released April 15.
Johnson was arrested in Oct. 2008 after an audit of the town’s finances revealed over $90,000 missing. She was sentenced in Lincoln County Superior Court last December to serve six years in jail with all but nine months suspended. At the time of sentencing, Johnson’s attorney, Philip Cohen, said the reduced sentence came from her having accepted responsibility for her actions and for having had no prior criminal record.
Having been released on the program under the direction of the sheriff’s office, Johnson will finish out her sentence and will remain on probation for three years. As it has been previously reported, Johnson has been ordered to pay a total of $115,651.95 in restitution.
The alternative sentencing program is very strict, according to Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Mike Murphy. Murphy heads up the Sheriff’s Office program, which is monitored by Volunteers for America. The program is only available for inmates with non-violent offenses and no other criminal history.
Johnson has to check in daily with law enforcement officials and a case worker, providing them with an itinerary as to her employment search progress. The central focus of the program is to get participants back to work so they can start to pay back their communities, Murphy said, adding it would cost about $163 per day to keep Johnson in jail.
“A big part of this is cutting costs,” Murphy said.
