Consho manager accused of 150G theft

As office manager of the Conshohocken Sewer Authority, Tracy Connelly kept plenty busy meeting the sewage needs of this riverside borough of 8,000.

But Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman says Connelly was even busier meeting her own greedy needs, embezzling about $150,000 from the authority over two years to pay her rent and car loan, go shopping and even send her son and his friends on a beach vacation.

Connelly, 38, was arraigned yesterday on hundreds of theft-related offenses before District Judge Deborah A. Lukens, who set a preliminary hearing for Dec. 15. She was freed on $50,000 unsecured bail.

Suspicious about their disappearing money, authority officials earlier this year directed their auditor to investigate. The auditor discovered "numerous" unauthorized checks written out of the authority's accounts, according to an affidavit.

Investigators found that Connelly allegedly spent nearly $15,000 to pay her rent, car loan and car repairs and another $3,500 to rent a beachfront apartment in Ocean City, N.J., for a week last June for her son and his friends, Conshohocken police Detective Shane Murray wrote in the affidavit.

She also drew checks and money orders worth more than $9,000 out of the authority's accounts and dropped another $2,200 at a liquor store, sporting-goods store, nail salon, saloon and other locales, according to the affidavit.

Her fingers were stickiest between July 2007 and last July, when she wire-transferred nearly $138,000 to two credit cards that she used on personal purchases, according to the affidavit.

The authority suspended her in July for poor work performance and fired her shortly after. She couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.

Authority officials yesterday declined to comment about Connelly's arrest or the theft case. Authority Solicitor John Adam DiPietro issued a statement assuring customers that they'll see no disruption in service and that operations are more efficient than ever. *