Second band booster arrested for theft
The Gulf County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a second
former officer of the Port St. Joe Band Boosters in connection with the theft
of monies from the organization.
Christie D. McCulley, 44, of White City, turned herself in Thursday
morning to the Gulf County Detention Facility, where she was booked on charges
of grand theft.
McCulley’s tenure as a former treasurer of the boosters, a
non-profit organization independent of the Gulf County School District,
preceded that of her successor as treasurer Andrea S. Kennington, 45, of Port
St. Joe, who was charged last week with the same second-degree felony.
Sheriff Mike Harrison’s office alleges Kennington stole about
$9,096 in checks and cash from the organization, and that in an interview with
investigators, admitted to the theft.
In a new release, Harrison said McCulley wrote several
checks to Kennington from the booster’s account.
“She was fully aware that the money requested was not for a
band function but issued checks anyway,” Harrison said. “She told investigators
that Kennington promised to pay the money back. The money was never returned.”
The news release said the value of checks written by
McCulley totaled approximately $3,000.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.