Longtime Med School Employee From Newark Sentenced For Theft

A Newark woman who worked for decades as an administrative assistant at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the school, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said Wednesday.

Sondra Bell
Photo Credit: *Essex County Prosecutor's Office*

Paul Milo

05/15/2019 5:58 p.m.

Sondra Bell, 55, stole about $87,000 between January 2017 and April of last year, when the theft was discovered.

Bell was asked to order plane tickets for her boss to attend a medical conference, but there were insufficient funds. When Bell asked the doctor to pay out of pocket for the tickets, he refused. Authorities were alerted to the shortfall soon after.

Authorities later learned Bell, who had worked for the school for 24 years, was writing vouchers against the school's accounts for her own use.

Bell, who pleaded guilty to theft by deception in January, said she used the money for personal expenses, including her son's college tuition.

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