47-year-old Colleen Fortier appeared in Livingston County Circuit Court Thursday, nearly a year after she pleaded no contest to embezzlement by a public official. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such at sentencing. Circuit Court Judge Michael P. Hatty sentenced Fortier to three days in jail and two years of probation.

Fortier was also previously ordered to pay full restitution in the amount of $16,905, which was uncovered through the extensive work of Clerk Elizabeth Hundley and others. Hundley discovered financial irregularities involving the clerk’s office in May of 2016 and went to work investigating once she noticed the pattern.

An in-depth investigation involving Treasurer Jennifer Nash, the Livingston County Sheriff’s and Prosecutor’s Offices, backed up Hundley’s findings after extensive research, uncovering the embezzlement. The embezzlement was said to have occurred between December of 2015 through May of 2016 and Fortier was placed on unpaid administrative leave after the internal investigation was initiated. Fortier, who worked for the county for about four years, resigned prior to the completion of the investigation. (DK/JM)