Loren F. Wright, whom prosecutors alleged stole more than $3,500 from two liquor stores where she worked, faced a jury Monday on the opening day of her trial in Schuylkill County Court.
Wright, 41, of Frackville, is charged with two counts each of theft, receiving stolen property, theft by deception, theft by failure to make required disposition and tampering with records.
Her trial before a jury and President Judge William E. Baldwin is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. today.
Frackville borough police alleged Wright stole $2,279.99 from the 500 W. Oak St. store while she was its general manager between February 2013 and February 2014.
Shenandoah police alleged she stole $1,387.36 between Feb. 19, 2013, and March 25, 2014, from the store in the borough.
Prosecutors opened their case by showing the problems at the Frackville store.
“It showed a significant amount of loss,” Jerome M. Yeager, Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board regional manager, testified about an inventory of the Frackville store.
That inventory, in turn, triggered the audit that prosecutors said shows Wright as the perpetrator.
Yeager, who was a retail operations manager when he oversaw Wright at that store, said the defendant was the only person working at that store from January 2012 until it closed, except for sick days and vacations.
Wright had the responsibility to account for the inventory, including losses from breakage and shoplifting. A worker would need to watch the store and run the register simultaneously.
“Sometimes, it’s a tough job to do,” he said.
Frank Albano of the state Bureau of Audits testified he reviewed approximately 100 “high-risk” transactions, which included cancellations, returns and deletions, in the Frackville store.
“They are all ways to reverse a sale,” he said. “We want a reason ... why this was done.”
The report on those transactions showed the corresponding bottles of alcohol missing from the store’s inventory, Albano said.
“Is it fair to say those (bottles) are no longer in the store?” District Attorney Christine A. Holman asked Albano.
“Correct,” Albano said.
Under cross-examination by Chief Public Defender Michael J. Stine, Wright’s lawyer, Albano said the number of suspicious transactions at each store he originally reported were wrong. He said he has lowered the totals to 60 from 65 at Frackville and to 29 from 38 at Shenandoah.