By Linda Cicoira — Hallwood Councilman Rich Selinsky wants more charges to be filed against Angela Taylor, the former town clerk accused of 65 counts of embezzling from town coffers.
“It seems like there are a whole lot of charges missing from this case,” Selinsky told Commonwealth’s Attorney Spencer Morgan, the rest of the town council, and Mayor Jackie Poulson at a council meeting last week. “It’s almost as if she already has a deal. … If there were more charges, more of it would stand. Everybody in here knows what I’m talking about.”
Selinsky said Taylor received cash payments for taxes and other fees that were never deposited in the bank. He said the proof is in the affidavits residents signed before their bills were waived soon after the town records were destroyed.
Taylor was storing the records in her car in October 2017 just before the long-overdue audit was to be done. She lives about 350 yards from the town office and mostly did work from her home. She was going to deliver the records, including financial documents, to an Atlantic bookkeeper.
The fire occurred about five miles from Hallwood on Wessells Farm Road. The vehicle was then hauled to a local salvage yard, crushed, and taken away before other town officials found out about it.
Selinsky said the town had to re-establish its ordinances because everything was destroyed. He said the charges allege that Taylor took checks and had the payment of electric bills for her home and husband’s shop set up for automatic payment by the town through the utility company. But, Selinsky said, the charges don’t address “an enormous amount of collateral damage that I don’t think can be ignored.” The councilman suggested Taylor be charged with destruction of property.
Councilman John Smith wanted to know why she was given a low bond. Taylor, 46, of Hall Street in Hallwood, was arrested Jan. 30. She was released on $5,500 bond.
“I had to post $10,000 for taking a cop’s picture,” Smith said. “It was a good ol’ boys’ network,” he added.
Taylor was initially prohibited from leaving the state but her bond was later amended to allow her to travel as far north as Dover, Del., for work.
Immediately after the October 2017 fire, Taylor quit her job by leaving a note about her departure and details about the fire in the town office for officials to find.
Morgan came to the meeting to talk about the criminal prosecution but was reluctant to say too much. He distributed the “Virginia State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct” that prohibits him from making statements about a case so a defendant can get a fair trial.
“This has been one of those cases where we’ve tried very hard to be methodical,” said Morgan. He said he has shared the evidence with defense lawyer Carl Bundick. “I can’t seek punitive damages. That’s civil … These are criminal charges,” the prosecutor said. “It is my hope we will get this set (for trial) before spring.”
“It’s helpful for the court to hear from the body (town officials) as one,” Morgan continued. “Think about what you would say. We’re not there yet, but there will come a time in the future.”
An Accomack grand jury is expected to look at the evidence next month. Taylor waived a preliminary hearing in August.
Poulson and present town clerk, Danny Shrieves, a local minister, obtained the 2017 town budget from an old edition of the Eastern Shore Post, where it had been advertised. The budget shows the clerk’s salary at $4,200. Checks show she was paid $8,585.42 in 2015, $10,367.69 in 2016, and $7,470 in 2017. The charges stem from those years. Poulson noted that occasionally she was paid extra for being at the office to sell vehicle decals. At one meeting, the mayor said, Taylor received $32,000 that she wasn’t due.
