RALEIGH — The former town manager for Spring Lake pleaded guilty to charges she embezzled over $500,000 from the town between 2016 and 2021.
According to a Sept. 19 press release by the U.S. Department of Justice Eastern District of North Carolina, 64-year-old Gay Cameron Tucker pled guilty to one count of embezzlement from a local government receiving federal funds, and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Tucker faces up to 12 years in prison, according to the release.
“Public officials are entrusted to protect public funds. This defendant breached the public’s trust by using public funds intended for her local community to pay her own personal expenses,” U.S. Attorney Michael Easley said in the release. “Public corruption is a crime that affects all of us and undermines our public institutions. Our office will continue partnering with law enforcement to investigate allegations of public corruption in any form.”
Tucker had been indicted in June of this year on allegations she embezzled funds through fraudulent checks using forged signatures of the mayor and town manager, the indictment alleges.
A report published in March 2022 by the N.C. State Auditor’s Office revealed more than $430,000 in taxpayer funds were spent for personal use in the town of Spring Lake.
The audit report said Tucker allegedly wrote 72 checks for personal use, including 32 checks totaling $166,082 payable to Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union (Bragg Mutual), and deposited the checks into her personal bank account at that same credit union. Additionally, 27 checks totaling $151,015 were written payable to Tucker directly. She also wrote 13 checks totaling $113,015 payable to “Heritage Place Senior Living” that were used to pay her husband’s monthly resident bills.
In October 2021, the N.C. Local Government Commission (LGC) unanimously voted to take over the finances of Spring Lake. At that time, the town was at risk of defaulting on upcoming debt-service payments of $221,385.
The LGC voted unanimously on April 5 of this year to issue a letter to the mayor of Spring Lake and its Board of Aldermen over concerns involving a lack of compliance with state laws and reluctance to work with LGC staff.
The vote came after discussions of a $1 million loan Spring Lake secured to build a fire station without getting the approval of the LGC, according to an N.C. State Treasurer’s Office press release. Additionally, the LGC discussed a “lack of invoices” from the town attorney related to services provided for the 2022 fiscal year to date.
