SHERMAN, Maine – An Aroostook County woman, who stole more than $380,000 while working as a bookkeeper in Sherman, could walk away from a felony charge with two misdemeanors if she can prove that she gambled at least some of the money away, according to court documents.
For several years, from June 2019 to August 2023, Teri Rae Taylor, 46, who now lives in Lawtey, Florida, tampered with invoices, diverted thousands of dollars from monthly bill payments, charged personal items, Red Sox tickets, groceries and plane tickets on credit cards and drained the financial resources from several Sherman businesses owned by father and son duo John and Josh Qualey, according to the two men.
In a plea deal last month, Taylor pleaded guilty in Aroostook County Superior Court to a Class D misdemeanor and a new Class C felony charge of theft by deception, punishable by up to five years in prison.
At the November plea hearing, Taylor’s final sentencing was deferred for 24 months by Justice Stephen Nelson.
If she can demonstrate to the judge that she used the stolen money for gambling, the felony charge Taylor pleaded guilty to could be reduced to a misdemeanor and she would be sentenced for two misdemeanor counts, each punishable by up to 364 days in jail, according to court documents.
If unsuccessful, Taylor will be sentenced on the felony and misdemeanor counts she pleaded guilty to in mid-November.
While it is common practice for courts to give defendants an opportunity to receive treatment for addictions that led to criminal activity, and possibly have their charges reduced, both men question why proof of gambling would help get her a reduced charge and lesser sentence.
“The systems have failed us. She should have gone directly to jail and be in jail for a good while, coming out a felon,” John Qualey said about Taylor. “That’s our frustration.”
During the plea hearing, Taylor’s attorney, Adam Swanson, presented to the court a mitigating circumstance for final sentencing that she suffered from a gambling addiction.
“In order to accept that, the judge said he would need proof,” Swanson said.
That evidence could include receipts from online gambling sites or perhaps Gamblers Anonymous, Swanson said.
Over the next 24 months, Taylor must meet a list of conditions that include engaging in counseling for her gambling addiction. Additionally, she must provide proof to the court every 60 days of her continued engagement in counseling or group therapy for a gambling addiction.
The businesses affected include Qualey Ranch, Inc., Qualey Brokerage, Inc., JMQ Inc., and JM Qualey Transport. John Qualey also owns Three Oak Farms with his brother, but that business was saved from Taylor’s embezzlement when they caught her trying to divert farm checks to another account, they said.
Taylor routinely got the mail for all the Qualey businesses, including the farm. Before they discovered that she had been stealing from them for several years, she intercepted three different potato payment checks totalling just under $100,000. Through a merchant deposit system she deposited them into the other companies to replenish some of the money she had already stolen, but they caught the transaction, not realizing it was part of a larger scheme, they said.
At the time, Taylor acted surprised and said it was just a mistake and they believed her. Looking back, they said they should not have.
The last check was deposited about a month before they called the sheriff.
But it wasn’t until Machias Savings Bank called John Qualey in mid-August 2023 to tell him there was no money left in his accounts, that he realized what she had done, John said.
“I said ‘I know I have $28,000 in our plow account,’” he said. “She failed us in our trust of her, stole $35,000 in my wife’s name, in addition to all the money she stole from all the business accounts.”
In 2023 Taylor was initially indicted and arrested by the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department on four Class B felony counts of theft by deception and theft by unauthorized taking and a Class D misdemeanor charge of misuse of identification. If she had been convicted on these counts, Taylor could have served decades behind bars.
The Qualeys did not initially understand that the sentencing was deferred during the plea agreement hearing and were frustrated. They thought that Taylor was not going to serve any time in prison while they are still trying to repair the financial damage left in the wake of her crimes, they said.
“Everything she could get her hands on, she took,” Josh said. “It took four and a half years for us to finally bleed dry.”
Within 24 hours of discovering Taylor’s embezzlement, although they did not realize the extent of it at the time, they had a lien placed on her Sherman home which was sold to satisfy the court-ordered restitution of $138,400 to the Qualey’s. Additionally, she was ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution for the benefit of the Farm Family Insurance, documents revealed.
“My wife and I are in hock for the rest of our lives,” John Qualey said.
They had to borrow over $150,000 in the first five weeks just to get things back on track as well as having to pay $1,700 a month on two credit cards that had charges for plane tickets, grocery and personal items, the Qualey’s said.
“Our local fuel bill, $7,000, was not paid for six months to a very good friend of mine,” John said.
In addition, months and months of bills went unpaid after Taylor altered invoices, forwarded credit card statements to her home address, and for six months they had no insurance on their plow contract because it had not been paid. All the while, Taylor told the Qualeys everything was taken care of.
“Every month I paid off my credit cards 100 percent,” John said. “She would take my credit card statement and change it on Adobe. When we got all done, it amounted to $78,000 she ran up and I didn’t know it. ”
And when they first discovered what had happened they didn’t know how bad they were, Josh said, adding that they are still finding things.
“She rebuilt her house on our money,” John said. “We were snookered.”
