A woman accused of embezzling more than $9,000 in 2019 from Norfolk Public Schools was found guilty Friday and sentenced to nine months in jail.
Cassandra Janene Meeks-Payton, 55, pleaded guilty to stealing $9,470 from the school district intended for summer school payments. The judge authorized Meeks-Payton to be considered by the jail for work release and home electronic monitoring so she may work toward paying the restitution while serving her sentence.
According to court documents, Meeks-Payton was employed by NPS in 2019 as the summer school programs manager and was directly responsible for collecting cash and money order payments from students and their families for summer classes.
In 2019, 363 students were enrolled in the summer program, and NPS calculated the anticipated registration revenue to be $42,300. During that summer, Meeks-Payton delivered only $32,830 of the anticipated $42,300 to NPS and embezzled $9,470 from the district.
In August 2021, the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office secured an indictment from a grand jury against Meeks-Payton for felony embezzlement.
Almost three years later, on April 9, 2024, Meeks-Payton pleaded guilty to her charge. Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. accepted her plea agreement which called for the active portion of her sentence to be no longer than one year.
Martin sentenced Meeks-Payton to serve nine months in jail, with another two years in prison suspended on the conditions that she pay the full $9,470 in restitution to Norfolk Public Schools and complete a period of uniform good behavior until the restitution is paid.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney J. Drew Fairbanks prosecuted the case on behalf of the Commonwealth.
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Crystal Graham
