Article Courtesy of the St. Petersburg Times
By JORGE SANCHEZ
Published March 16, 2004
A former board member of the Cypress Cove
condominiums property owners association was arrested on theft charges
Monday.
Linda Joyce Deptola, 60, 1288 Cypress Court
Cove, was arrested at her house by Inverness police Detective Michael Erb.
Deptola was charged with stealing money from the group by making checks
out to cash and then taking the money.
During questioning, Deptola said the thefts
had been going on for about one year, according to an arrest affidavit.
She told police she would take $300 to $400 at a time and estimated the
total taken was $2,700, police said.
Deptola told police that financial pressures
had been building because she had to take care of relatives who came to
live with her, the affidavit said. She said she was afraid of losing her
home.
She told police she intended to pay the
money back but that she was voted off the board and could no longer access
the checkbook to get a deposit slip to make restitution, police said.
Deptola was charged with grand theft and
was released from the Citrus County jail after posting $2,000 bail.
Deptola served as a board member from 1997
until her removal in November, a member of the board of directors said.
Bonnie Pilkington, the secretary and treasurer
of the board that represents the owners of the 64 condominium units, called
Deptola's removal an action "that was in the best interest of the association."
Deptola has a record of community service.
In 2002, she was the secretary for the
board of directors for Habitat for Humanity of Citrus County.
She was on the planning committee for the
2003 Taste of Citrus fundraiser and worked as general manager of Meadowcrest,
a residential community near Crystal River. |