Collection Clerk Sentenced For Stealing $20,000

A former clerk at Pioneer Collection Agency received three years probation today for stealing a $20,000 check intended for the New Jersey Division of Taxation.

Sharee Ivory, 31, of Camden, N.J., was helping process tax amnesty claims when she took the check in June 2009, modified it and deposited it into her personal bank account. Pioneer had a contract to administer a tax amnesty program for the state of New Jersey.

Ivory entered a guilty plea last October to charges, contained in a grand jury indictment, of theft by unlawful taking or disposition and forgery. Camden (N.J.) County Superior Court Judge Irvin J. Snyder sentenced Ivory. Acting New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow and state Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced the sentencing today.