Crystal Lynn Bickford, entered a guilty plea in Kay County District Court to a felony count of embezzlement.
The 33 year old Bickford, former treasurer of the Charity Angels AMBUCS program, was charged Sept. 29. Testimony indicated there were 69 instances of embezzlement.
Bickford and her attorney, Grace Yates, entered a blind plea. She waived her right to a preliminary hearing and a two judge requirement.
The court accepted her plea and heard a victim impact statement. Three witnesses testified after the statement.
Bickford was treasurer for the AMBUCS program in Ponca City from June 1, 2014 until May 31, 2016.
The new treasurer, Donna Hingten went through finances and discovered missing money. Bickford reported to the organization there was over $8,000 in the account when the actual account balance was around $2000.
The president of Charity Angels, Karly Fagg told police Bickford was the only member of the organization that had a debit card and all spending and purchasing went through her. Fagg said she confronted Bickford and Bickford signed a letter admitting to misappropriations of funds.
