RALEIGH – A Siler City resident pleaded guilty Friday in Wake County Superior Court to tax charges filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
Deborah Hawkins McManus, 57, of 11 Pine Forest Drive, Siler City pleaded guilty on May 16, 2014 to one felony count of Aiding and Abetting the Embezzlement of State Property.
Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens sentenced McManus to a 16-month minimum, 29-month maximum prison term. The sentence was suspended and McManus was placed on unsupervised probation for 36 months. She was ordered to pay restitution of $70,474.41, perform 100 hours of community service, and pay a $10,000 fine.
Information presented in court showed that McManus, a former state representative from Chatham County was bookkeeper for her husband’s medical practice, Carolina Family Practice, P.A. As bookkeeper she failed to remit North Carolina Individual Income Tax withheld from Carolina Family Practice, P.A. employee’s wages to the North Carolina Department of Revenue during the period January 2011 through July 2013. According to the defense, McManus has been a public servant for over a decade. The defense also stated that the medical practice has since been closed.
Restitution was paid in full at the time of the plea.
The charges against McManus resulted from an investigation by a special agent with the Department’s Criminal Investigations Section in Raleigh.
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