Prosecutor: Ex-church secretary to face more charges

A wave of new fraud charges is expected to be filed in the coming days against a former Springfield church secretary who already stands accused of scamming parishioners for drug money.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150720/THISJUSTIN/707209961

Prosecutor: Ex-church secretary to face more charges By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT | July 20,2015 WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A wave of new fraud charges is expected to be filed in the coming days against a former Springfield church secretary who already stands accused of scamming parishioners for drug money. Windsor County Deputy State’s Attorney Glenn Barnes revealed during a hearing Friday before Judge Karen Carroll that he is getting ready to file “30 to 40” new fraud-related charges against Holly Aldrich of Springfield, three or four of which are expected to be felonies. Aldrich, 48, who has also been known as Holly Jagelski in recent years, pleaded innocent in March to three misdemeanor counts of false pretenses. She was already facing two felony counts of forgery for allegedly faking signatures on stolen blank checks. Barnes said the new charges are tied to 20 separate victims who came forward after police appealed to the public in the wake of Aldrich’s most recent arrest, asking to hear from anyone who felt they had been taken in by Aldrich’s personal knowledge of parishioners of St. Mary’s Catholic church, where she’d built up a large web of local connections stretching back nearly three decades while serving as the secretary at the rectory. In the charges from March, Chester Police Detective Matthew Wilson alleged that at the beginning of this year Aldrich approached a series of churchgoers saying that her husband had just left her, taking all of her money except for a $10,000 certificate of deposit which she could only retrieve from her bank by paying a $140 fee upfront. The victims said Aldrich promised to repay them within hours once she’d supposedly withdrawn the larger sum but then, once she had their money, she allegedly stopped taking their calls. Barnes said Friday that, in addition to the new charges that he is already prepared to file in the days ahead, “there are more cases coming forward from the Springfield and Chester police departments” which may result in future charges as well. The hearing Friday was on whether Aldrich should be allowed to continue in Windsor County’s “Sparrow Program” which is designed to rapidly connect defendants, especially those struggling with substance abuse issues, with counseling, treatment and other appropriate community services even before their trials take place. Barnes argued that because a number of the new charges were for incidents while Aldrich was in the program, her continued presence it could damage its integrity. Her attorney, Melvin Fink, said Aldrich was doing well in the program and that expelling her would be “counterproductive. Carroll said she would consider written arguments from both sides on the subject.