Maureen Woodson, Embezzlement, Missouri 2023

ST. LOUIS – A former city clerk has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for stealing nearly half a million dollars from a small, struggling North St. Louis County municipality.

Maureen Woodson, 68, was ordered to repay the $487,673 she stole from Flordell Hills, Missouri, which has an annual budget of about $400,000 and a population of about 800. Approximately 53.9% of those residents live below the poverty line, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Woodson and her accomplice, Donna Thompson, wrote about 614 city checks to themselves over about six years, from February 2016 to April 2022. Woodson then forged the signature of the mayor and/or treasurer to cash the checks or deposit them into their personal bank accounts.

The $487,673 Woodson stole and the $159,903 Thompson took could have been used for vital city services, like fixing roads and sewers, paying contractors and helping struggling residents. Instead, the defendants used it for personal expenses and gambled the rest away.

“Flordell Hills residents and officials trusted these two defendants completely and relied upon them to handle the city’s financial operations,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming. “This case, and the prison sentence for Ms. Woodson, should serve as a warning to those who would betray the public’s trust.”

Woodson was sentenced on Tuesday, and U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel also ordered her remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals at the end of the sentencing hearing.

The FBI investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith prosecuted the case.

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