Bookkeeper pleads guilty to forgery

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County woman accused of embezzling more than $90,000 from her former employer pleaded guilty to forgery on Monday.

Brandince Ann Waller-Boyd faces up to 10 years in prison when she's sentenced next month, although a plea agreement proposes a suspended prison term and a local jail sentence at the court's discretion.

In exchange for the pleas, another count of forgery and a grand theft count are being dismissed. Full restitution is also part of the agreement.

Waller-Boyd is accused of defrauding Water Engineering Technologies, a majority of which is owned by Pure Health Solutions, a Sandpoint-based maker of high-tech water purification systems.

Waller-Boyd, 31, was hired by Pure Health Solutions and did bookkeeping for WET, according to court documents. Boyd allegedly forged signatures on company checks to commit the thefts and unsuccessfully attempted to cover her tracks.

Waller-Boyd confessed to the deception when investigators confronted her earlier this year, a Sandpoint Police report said.

"Under financial distress, Brandy Boyd made some very poor choices," Bryce Powell, her defense attorney, said in a statement. "She is remorseful for her crime, ready to accept responsibility and prepared to work as hard as she can to repay the victim."

Waller-Boyd is being sued by her former employers for the embezzlement. The suit alleges the thefts funded the purchase of ATVs, motorcycles, equipment, horses and a 1969 Porsche 911.

The suit also names Waller-Boyd's husband, Richard, as a defendant. Waller-Boyd told investigators her husband was unaware of the embezzlement, court documents indicate.

The couple's counsel in the civil matter, Todd Reed, did not respond to request for comment.