Former town clerk accused of Scout fund theft

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A former local official already charged with stealing from towns in two states, including Maine, now faces an indictment for an alleged theft from a Boy Scout troop.

It was the latest legal trouble for Elizabeth Lavalette, 57, the former town clerk in Stockbridge and town manager in Greenwood, a town in western Maine.

A Berkshire County grand jury indicted her Tuesday on two counts of theft over $250 allegedly from the West Stockbridge Boy Scout troop in the spring of 1994.

About $1,100 is missing from the troop, according to that town’s police chief, Michael Kirchner. He said she handled troop funds from 1992 to 1994.

In December, Lavalette, who had worked for West Stockbridge for 18 years, was accused of stealing $58,000 from the western Massachusetts town. Prosecutors said she used $40,000 to pay her son’s tuition at Northeastern University.

She left as town clerk in March and took over as town manager in Greenwood. She quit her job there in December. After she was indicted in Massachusetts, auditors in Maine began to scrutinize the books in Greenwood.

Then, earlier this month, Lavalette was indicted by a Maine grand jury for allegedly writing herself a check for more than $20,000 belonging to Greenwood.

Her phone was disconnected there this week, and she had no new listing in the West Stockbridge area.

She was to be arraigned on the latest charges in Berkshire Superior Court on June 11.