SBJ's former office manager sentenced for theft, forgery

Last edited 1:15 p.m., April 15, 2014

A former office manager with Springfield Business Journal was sentenced today to five years with the Department of Corrections to include 120 days of prison time, according to the Greene County court administrator and court records.

Jennie Tritch had pleaded guilty in January to two counts of forgery and one count of theft related to more than $96,000 she stole from SBJ during a period starting Aug. 29, 2009, and ending Jan. 3, 2012, when she was fired from the company. Tritch worked at Springfield Business Journal for about six years.

According to SBJ archives, Tritch allegedly adjusted her cafeteria plan and medical insurance withholdings, created fictitious bonus checks with forged signatures, produced additional payroll checks and made unauthorized charges to SBJ’s Staples account.

Greene County Circuit Court Judge Dan Conklin presided over the sentencing. After 120 days in prison, Tritch – who has no prior convictions – will be allowed to carry out the  remainder of her sentence under supervised probation, said SBJ Publishing Inc. Publisher Jennifer Jackson, who attended the sentencing hearing this morning.

Jackson made oral statements in court requesting Tritch’s sentence be at least as long as the length of time she stole from the company. After the hearing, Jackson said she had mixed emotions about the sentencing.

“I don’t know how I feel about it,” Jackson said, adding that she is pleased Tritch will have time in prison to think about how her actions affected the company and its employees. “I’m not elated or disappointed.

“I have to think justice was served.”

Jackson said Tritch’s attorney had asked for a suspended imposition of sentence before Conklin read the sentence.

She said the company has outsourced its payroll since the theft was discovered and implemented cross checks that she oversees to prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future.

“One hundred thousand dollars to us is the equivalent of $1 million to a bigger business,” Jackson said.


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