FARMINGTON — A Layton woman faces a felony count of misuse of public money for allegedly racking up more than $80,000 in unauthorized purchases on two Davis High School credit cards while employed as a secretary for the school.

Kellie Wilko, 47, faces a single count of misuse of public money, a second-degree felony, in the matter. The Davis County Attorney’s Office filed the charge last Thursday in 2nd District Court in Farmington.

According to charging papers, Wilko allegedly make a total of $82,045.02 in unauthorized purchases on the credit cards between July 21, 2020, and Feb. 9, 2021. She had been a secretary for Davis High School in Kaysville.

“As a part of her job, she had access to two different credit cards for authorized school purchases. One card was in her name and the other card was available to multiple employees to check out when they needed to make a purchase on behalf of the school,” charging papers read.

Davis School District Auditor Nathan Lee started looking into charges made by Wilko on April 27, 2021, after he noticed a $1,632.29 expense she had made, according to the indictment in the case.

“Because the transaction was over $1,000.00, Mr. Lee conducted a search and found 42 unauthorized charges from both credit cards to that PayPal account totaling $40,991.62. The defendant admitted that the PayPal account belonged to her and that she used the funds for personal use,” read charging papers.

Lee found other “suspicious transactions” by Wilko, and, upon questioning by police, Wilko allegedly admitted to another $41,053.40 in unauthorized purchases, including a $2,700 charge for flooring for her home.

Wilko didn’t have an attorney of record listed in online court records. Davis School District officials didn’t immediately respond to a Standard-Examiner query on Monday seeking information on her employment status with the school system.

Newsletter