Plea agreement reached in Lake Superior school district theft case

A former Lake Superior school district employee accused of stealing school lunch funds has reached a plea agreement with the Lake County Attorney’s office, pleading guilty to one felony count of theft, with felony charges of embezzlement and forgery dismissed.

Sherry Rae Udenberg was in court Monday in front of Lake County District Court Judge Kenneth Sandvik. Udenberg had been charged with embezzlement of an estimated $65,275 from the district from 2007 to 2009. She worked as a financial assistant and food service coordinator until resigning in October.

According to the plea agreement, Udenberg would serve six months at the Duluth Bethel female offenders program or 90 days in jail and 60 days of electronic monitoring. She also will face restitution requirements at a

March 1 sentencing.

If she fails to meet probation conditions, she could face the full felony theft guideline sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. But if she meets conditions, the theft will go down on her record as a

misdemeanor rather than a felony.

The agreement is subject to a presentencing investigation.

Udenberg was supposed to count money brought in for student lunch accounts after it was counted by the high school office. She was supposed to return the money to that office for deposit, but, according to the complaint, instead made false documents in order to pocket cash and deposited checks and coins only into the school’s bank account. The court document says she admitted to stealing funds beginning in March 2007 until her departure last fall.

Student accounts were credited and the money stolen is covered by

insurance.

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