WELLSBURG, W.Va. — A former cashier at Bethany College in Ohio County was sentenced to two-20 years behind bars in Brooke County Circuit Court on Tuesday for embezzling an estimated $1.3 million from the school between July 2011 and May 2013.
Shelley Lough, 46, of Wheeling, had earlier plead guilty to embezzlement and falsifying accounts and received a one-10 years in prison for each count. She will serve the time consecutively.
Lough told investigators she stole the money from the school and covered her tracks by altering records to pay off an Ohio couple, Jason and Rachaelle Weese of Calcutta, Oh.
The Weeses have been indicted on federal extortion charges for allegedly threatening to turn over evidence of Lough’s previous online relationship with Mr. Weese, 31, to Lough’s husband if she did not pay the money they were demanding.
According to the FBI, Mrs. Lough and Mr. Weese never had physical contact, but they did engage in sexting during the affair.