Former adoption director pleads guilty
TAMPA (AP) – A judge has ordered the former head of a Tampa adoption agency to repay $178,000 that prosecutors say she stole from adoptive parents.
The Florida Attorney General’s Office said Debra West pleaded guilty to first-degree grand theft on Monday.
The former director of Adoptions by Choice pocketed money from parents meant to reimburse expenses incurred by the birth mothers. West and the agency would then submit fraudulent affidavits to the court, claiming they spent the money faithfully. A judge will sentence West early next year.