LEXINGTON
A 31-year-old Davie County woman pleaded guilty yesterday to charges that she stole more than $40,000 from the law firm where she had worked for the past 10 years.
Manika Spry Magallanes of 140 N. Main St. in Mocksville pleaded guilty to 19 counts of embezzlement in Davidson Superior Court.
The case was heard in Davidson County yesterday because Davie County did not have Superior Court this week, and Magallanes indicated that she wanted to plead guilty, District Attorney Garry Frank said.
A Davie County grand jury indicted Magallanes on the charges Oct. 26 and she has been in the Davie County Jail with bond set at $190,000.
Magallanes had worked as a legal secretary for the past 10 years for the law office of Mocksville attorney Grady McClamrock, Assistant District Attorney Greg Brown said.
As a legal secretary, Magallanes handled money for the law firm, Brown said. McClamrock became suspicious about discrepancies in the cash deposits and hired an accountant to review his books from 2008 and this year.
On Sept. 2, 2009, he confronted Magallanes after the accountant found $25,000 missing, Brown said. Magallanes acknowledged that she had taken the money and said she would pay McClamrock back.
McClamrock contacted the Mocksville Police Department, which began an investigation that found that Magallanes had taken $40,070, Brown said.
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," Magallanes said yesterday to McClamrock, who was sitting in the courtroom. She broke down in tears, saying, "I'm hoping you can forgive me."
Judge Mark Klass of Davidson Superior Court consolidated the 19 charges into five counts of embezzlement and sentenced Magallanes to six to eight months in prison on each of the five counts, all suspended.
He gave her five years of supervised probation and ordered her to pay back the money that she embezzled.
She paid $4,000 of that yesterday.
Klass also ordered her not to have any contact with McClamrock.
David Freedman, her attorney, said that Magallanes is remorseful about what she had done.
After the hearing, she and McClamrock hugged, and Magallanes collapsed into tears.
mhewlett@wsjournal.com | 727-7326
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