SMETHPORT – A Kane woman who took more than $25,000 from Hamlin
Bank while she was employed there was sentenced Thursday in McKean
County Court to incarceration in jail followed by house arrest.

Amy Geer, 40, was sentenced to 90 days to a year incarceration
to be served as 30 days in McKean County Jail followed by 60 days
on house arrest. She was granted work release status and was
ordered to perform 100 hours of community service by President
Judge John Cleland – who gave Geer a lecture on betraying the
public’s trust in a financial institution.

Geer had pleaded guilty to theft by failure to make required
disposition of funds, forgery and tampering with records. Between
Jan. 3, 2004, and Aug. 8, 2005, Geer took $26,700 from Hamlin Bank
and Trust Co. of Kane without permission.

“This is a situation where it was not a one-time theft, yielding
to temptation one time. This went on 18 months,” Cleland said. “The
nature of this offense is that once the first theft is made,
subsequent thefts had to be made to cover it up.

“This is a far more serious crime than stealing from one
person,” he said, “because the public confidence in the banking
system is a serious matter of some serious import.”

Geer’s attorney, Dennis Luttenauer, said the conduct in this
case was truly out of character for Geer. He spoke of her giving
nature and of the community and charitable activities she takes
part in.

During the time of the crimes, there were “extreme personal and
emotional stressors and financial hardships,” Luttenauer said. He
added that Geer had been offered a promotion to a higher paying job
while this conduct was taking place, but declined because she
wanted to have all the money paid back before she did anything
else.

District Attorney John Pavlock agreed that restitution was paid
early on in the case and that Geer had cooperated with the
investigation. However, he said, she was in a position of trust and
violated that by taking money she wasn’t entitled to.

“Because of that harm and the trust that was placed in her, we
ask for (jail time),” Pavlock said.

Cleland explained to Geer that while she is on house arrest, she
should not consider the sentence a “slap on the wrist.”

“It’s just a matter of where your sentence is served,” he said.
“Your house is your prison.”