Exeter woman pleads guilty in theft schemes ‘Serial embezzler’ admits stealing more than $400,000 in three cases

ELLSWORTH – A woman once described by prosecutors as a serial embezzler pleaded guilty Monday in Hancock County Superior Court on charges related to three different theft schemes dating back to 2001.

Cecelia G. White, 43, of Exeter entered pleas before Justice John Nivison on two counts of Class B theft and one count of Class C negotiating a worthless instrument.

All told, White embezzled more than $400,000 combined from a Surry forestry company and an Asian restaurant in Bangor from 2001 to 2004. She also wrote fraudulent checks to a company in Dexter totaling more than $1,000, according to prosecutors.

White’s sentencing was deferred Monday, but Hancock County District Attorney Michael Povich said he would recommend a sentence of nine years in prison with all but six suspended, followed by four years’ probation. Povich also recommended full restitution to both victims.

Additionally, Povich told Justice Nivison that if White pays back $25,000 in restitution by the time of her sentencing date, which was not set Monday, he would recommend she serve only five years in prison. If she were able to pay $50,000, Povich said he would ask for a four-year sentence.

Under the law, a Class B crime carries a fine of up to $20,000 and a prison term not to exceed 10 years; and a Class C crime carries a fine of up to $5,000 and a prison term not to exceed five years.

Penobscot County Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts, who presided over the charges out of his county, also called for full restitution, but said any prison sentence for those charges could be served concurrently with the Hancock County charges.

Before her guilty pleas, both prosecutors presented a brief summary of the evidence against White.

According to Roberts, the Exeter woman worked as a bookkeeper for the Asian Palace restaurant in 2001 and transferred large sums of money from the company’s account to her own. After an IRS investigation, White was found to have stolen $107,000 from Marilyn Lau, the restaurant’s owner. Lau filed a civil lawsuit against White in an attempt to recoup some of the money lost, but criminal charges were not immediately filed in Penobscot County.

David and Alice Jean Warren, who own a small logging company in Surry, hired White as a bookkeeper without knowledge that she had stolen from a former employer, Povich said. White proceeded to write more than 400 checks from the business to herself, which she then cashed. The total taken from the Warrens was about $308,000.

The Surry couple, who sat in the courtroom during White’s hearing, said afterward they have received only about $2,000 in restitution since the court proceedings began.

“You don’t move on from something like this,” David Warren said outside the courtroom. “You take risks in any business with trusting people, but we had never had any problems before.”

White first pleaded guilty to her charges in December 2005, at which point Povich called her a “serial embezzler.” She later withdrew her plea after indicating that she didn’t fully grasp the consequences because she has bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to court documents.

The case has been hung up in the system since then for several different reasons, but the Warrens said they are the ones who are affected.

“I never cared about jail; we just want the money back,” David Warren said. “Paying back what she stole will hurt her more than anything else.”

Justice Nivison stipulated that the $10,000 posted by an unnamed friend as bail for White soon would be turned over to the Warrens.