Ex-Emergency Management Secretary Pleads Not Guilty

BROOKSVILLE - Stephanie Anderson, the former county emergency management secretary accused of forging payroll records, pleaded not guilty to her charges on Tuesday.

The arraignment was more of a formality because Anderson's attorney, Robert Whittel, entered a written innocent plea on Friday to official misconduct and grand theft.

Investigators say Anderson earned $9,865 by claiming 380 hours of overtime between Dec. 3, 2006, and Feb. 10, 2008.

Many of those days she wasn't even at work, according to reports from the sheriff's office.

Anderson resigned during the course of the investigation and her boss, former emergency management director Tom Leto, was fired on May 9.

Leto was not criminally charged and has vowed to appeal his removal.