Jessica Kristina Tafoya, DOB: 5-20-82, appeared in Jefferson County District Court yesterday where she was sentenced to four years in probation with 120 hours of useful public service for theft of over $58,000 from the Jefferson Academy Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). The Jefferson Academy is a K-12 charter school located in northern unincorporated Jefferson County. Tafoya, who lives in Arvada, served as treasurer of the organization between 2015 and 2017.
At the sentencing hearing, Ms. Tafoya repaid $32,000 of the misappropriated funds.
In November, 2017 new officers of the PTO contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office with concerns over discrepancies in their financial records during the period when Ms. Tafoya was treasurer. Ms. Tafoya was the only authorized user on the PTO bank accounts and she had been given a debit card on the accounts. There were unauthorized ATM withdrawals, underpaid invoices, and transactions between the PTO’s accounts and her personal accounts.
On June 6, 2019 Ms. Tafoya pled guilty to Theft ($20,000 - $100,000) (F4).
