Teesha M. Lutrick, 33, the former Deer Park Elementary Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) Treasurer charged with theft and forgery, pled guilty in Washington State Superior Court on May 12th.
As a reminder, last October Deer Park School District Superintendent Travis Hanson and Deer Park Elementary PTO Officers met with Deer Park School Resource Deputy Dan Dutton to discuss suspicions of misconduct by Lutrick. After a careful review of documents, a paper trail of theft and forgery was found to have occurred between September 4th, 2015 and October 9th, 2019. More than $25,000 of non-PTO transactions were made using forged checks, debit card purchases, and ATM withdrawals. When Deputy Dutton officially questioned Lutrick about the findings, she admitted to committing the crimes. She said the money was used for personal purchases and bills. Lutrick was formally charged November 13th, 2019, with 1 First Degree Theft count and 6 counts of Forgery.
Superior Court Judge Raymond F. Clary presided over the plea and sentencing hearing. Statutes on Lutrick’s crimes allow a maximum term of 10 years in prison for theft, and an additional 5 years for each count of forgery. However, because this was Lutrick’s first felony charge, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Emily Leddige agreed, in exchange for a guilty plea on all counts, to recommend the judge use the First Time Offender Waiver of Standard Sentence. Judge Clary agreed. No jail time was given to Lutrick but she was ordered to pay restitution of $33,132 and required her to submit her DNA for identification analysis and testing. $32,332 will go to Deer Park Elementary PTO and the rest will pay for court costs.
This wasn’t the first time Lutrick was given a court order to pay restitution. Back in 2011, she and her spouse were required to pay more than $35,000 on a delinquent Promissory Note to the Kettle Falls Assembly of God Church. That incident was not considered a felony. Teesha Lutrick is now a convicted felon and is currently residing in Spokane Valley.
