May 10, 2007
ASHVILLE — Thousands of taxpayers’ dollars embezzled by a former Ashville High School bookkeeper was allegedly used for Viagra and motel rooms in her affair with the superintendent, court documents reveal.
Documents submitted to the court and put on the record Tuesday indicate bookkeeper Amy Murphree was having an affair with former St. Clair County Superintendent Tom Sanders when she was stealing money from the School System and using stolen funds for their affair.
“Murphree used just about all of the money taken from the school to pay for hotel rooms for the affair, trips with Sanders, purchase Viagra for Sanders, prescription pills for herself and Sanders, food for both of them, along with other items during the affair with Sanders,” her attorney Lance Bell wrote in a sentencing memorandum to St. Clair County Circuit Court Judge Charles Robinson.
The revelations came during a probation hearing for Murphree Tuesday. She was sentenced to serve two years of a 15-year sentence for one count of theft of property and three counts of forgery in connection with $140,749 stolen from Ashville High School during a five-year period.
Documents, which included transcripts of actual tape recordings between Murphree and Sanders, were entered into the record by Bell.
Also Tuesday, Robinson revealed publicly he delayed Murphree’s probation hearing and released her from jail because of an ongoing investigation by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation.
“I was aware of an investigation,” Robinson told Murphree in court Tuesday. “I purposely continued your probation hearing.”
It is uncertain if the ABI investigation is completed or is still ongoing.
“I don’t know what the results of any investigations are,” Robinson said, adding that he is sometimes asked to cooperate with the Sheriff’s Department or the District Attorney’s Office in investigative matters.
Bell said the transcripts and recordings between Murphree and Sanders were surrendered to the ABI. He was also not certain if the investigation is still active.
Bell said the conversations between Sanders and Murphree were recorded in February and March of this year.
In transcripts of alleged tape recordings between the two, the former superintendent repeatedly denies he knew Murphree was stealing school funds while they were having an affair.
However, he does admit in the transcript he cashed a campaign check and gave her the money.
“I just, I got questioned today about you know, when I got that check cashed and gave you some money to help you out,” Sanders said.
“Questioned by whom?” Murphree asked.
“ABI,” Sanders said.
He later asks Murphree in the transcript to lie to authorities about him cashing the check and giving her the campaign funds.
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“… All it’s going to do is get me in trouble,” he said. “It’s not going to get you in trouble. You can just say, you can say, you just deny it.”
He also provided her with the school board’s gas card, according to the transcript and sentencing memorandum.
“Murphree was even given a St. Clair County Board of Education fuel card and $2,000 after she was placed on leave by the school,” Bell wrote. “She used the card to purchase some fuel for her vehicle for two months, and then turned the card into Sanders in September 2005. The $2,000 that Murphree received from Sanders was from a campaign account check written to Tom Sanders and cashed at a bank in Ashville.”
District Attorney Richard Minor said once allegations surfaced pertaining to possible wrongdoing by Sanders, the matter was turned over to a special prosecutor appointed by the governor.
Minor said under Murphree’s sentencing order Tuesday, she is to fully cooperate with authorities if she is needed in the future. Murphree also agreed to testify in any criminal or civil cases involving the school board or state.
Efforts to reach Sanders and his attorney Tuesday for immediate comment were unsuccessful.
Efforts to get immediate comment from the ABI were also unsuccessful
Sanders resigned as the superintendent of St. Clair County schools in December 2005, before his term of office ended, citing health reasons and what he believed was in the best interests of his family.
He worked for the School System for 26 years and was principal of Ashville High School before he was elected superintendent of St. Clair County schools
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