10-17-13 columbus woman convicted of stealing from a church going to jail

A Columbus woman convicted of stealing money and benefits from a church and school will spend a year in jail.  On Tuesday, Columbia County Circuit Court Judge Alan White announced a withheld sentence for 54 year old Susan Droessler, and placed her on five years probation.  As a probation condition, Droessler was ordered to spend a year in jail and pay about 167 thousand dollars in restitution.  In August, she pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of a business setting.  According to a criminal complaint, Droessler worked for a period of time as a secretary and bookkeeper for St. Jerome Parish and School in Columbus .  In January of 2010, a trustee on the parish finance council discovered that for a period of time dating back to at least the beginning of 2007, large sums of money had been misappropriated from the church and school.  A subsequent investigation by the Columbus Police Department revealed that Droessler, who was able to write checks from accounts, used funds to pay for various personal and family expenses, such as items totaling more than $5,000 at Wal-Mart, and more than $17,000 for various credit card accounts.  Droessler was also accused of enrolling herself and her family in health benefits through the parish, to which she was not entitled, and cost the church in excess of $88,000.