PORT ANGELES — The man who put Catherine Betts behind bars is prosecuting another former Clallam County employee accused of stealing from the public.
Scott Marlow, state assistant attorney general, took over the case against Staci Allison about two weeks ago at the request of the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Allison is charged with first-degree theft and money laundering for allegedly stealing $8,644 in cash from the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office’s evidence room while working as an evidence technician as late as 2006.
She is scheduled to be tried Oct. 17.
Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly said she requested Marlow take on the two-year-old case because she was impressed by his work prosecuting Betts.
She also said the move prevents questions of a conflict of interest from being raised.
“He did an excellent job,” she said. “He has the experience.”
Betts, a former Clallam County Treasurer’s Office cashier, was sentenced Aug. 24 to 12 years in prison for stealing between $617,467 and $793,595 in real estate excise tax proceeds between June 2003 and May 2009. She is also required to pay $607,516 in restitution.
Previously, Allison’s attorney, Ralph Anderson, sought to have Deb Kelly removed from the case because the Sheriff’s Office hired her husband, Don Kelly, to organize the evidence room after the thefts were discovered.
Don Kelly, a former sergeant with the Sheriff’s Office, is expected to testify during the trial.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams ruled in February that Deb Kelly could remain on the case after finding that there wasn’t “clear evidence of a genuine conflict.”
Deb Kelly said Friday that she is still concerned that an alleged conflict could be raised on appeal if she remained on the case.
“It removes the issue respecting my husband on the case,” she said.
As much as $51,251 in cash was found missing from the evidence room in November 2006.
Allison is being charged with the lesser amount because that’s what prosecutors believe they can prove she allegedly took.
She is scheduled to be tried Oct. 17.
Authorities have said that the thefts from the Treasurer’s Office and Sheriff’s Office are unrelated.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
