By Gordon Anderson | gordon@rantnc.com
A former Lee County Schools finance employee pleaded guilty Monday to embezzling nearly $200,000 from the district.
Jordan Allred, 37, pleaded guilty to four felony counts of embezzlement. Judge Winston Gilchrist imposed a suspended sentence of 18 to 51 months. Allred won’t go to prison if she completes five years of supervised probation, including paying $190,588 in restitution and completing 135 nonconsecutive days in jail, with the schedule to be determined by her probation officer. Allred paid $35,000 of the restitution Monday.
If Allred successfully completes three years of probation and meets all court-ordered conditions, she can be transferred to unsupervised probation for the remaining two years.
Sanford police arrested Allred in March 2025, saying she’d taken $190,588 from the school district where she was employed as an assistant finance officer.
Allred’s attorney, Chas Post, said his client made a “heartfelt apology” at her sentencing on Monday.
“There are a lot of people that are sorry they got caught,” Post told The Rant. “Others are genuinely sorry for their actions. It was evident in court that Ms. Allred was very sorry for the pain she caused – to the schools, to the taxpayers, and to her family.”
Lee County Assistant District Attorney Emily Everest prosecuted the case. Gilchrist presided.
Is that all you call that justice!! She should be sentenced to 10 years !! What message does that send out to other county officials. They are only gonna get a slap on the rist. This county is so corrupt!!
135 days in jail at her discretion to show up? I guess crime does pay. Well, in this case, it did render a little slap on the wrist and a “I’m sorry” (I got caught) apology from her lawyer.
Question, so she still has the money she took ?
Wow – she got such a light sentence. I will not be surprised if/when she does something similar again in the future. Such a shame that the courts allow people to basically walk away free from this. What about interest on the money she stole?
Meanwhile… This headline published in Oct 2022: Gregory Hahn, 47, was ordered to stay 24 hours in jail for refusing Judge Winston Charles Gilchrist’s order to wear a mask inside his courtroom.
Seems like not wearing a mask gets you real jail time while stealing, oh, I mean embezzlement gets you a you-pick-a-convenient-day to serve your time.
MDM, you are on Target!