Former business manager sentenced for theft from O’Fallon school district
.jpg "A former school employee has been sentenced to prison for theft.")
A woman currently serving a prison sentence for stealing money from one metro-east school district has been sentenced for a subsequent theft in another district.
Julie A. Nappier, 54, of Valmeyer, faced felony charges in two separate criminal cases in St. Clair and Monroe counties related to thefts committed while she worked as a bookkeeper for Columbia Community Unit School District 4 and as a business manager at O’Fallon’s Central School District 104.
Prosecutors allege she stole from the Columbia school district between July 8, 2016, and June 24, 2022, and from the O’Fallon school district between Aug. 29, 2022, and June 30, 2023.
St. Clair County Associate Judge Jeffrey Watson sentenced Nappier on Jan. 7 to a prison term to be served concurrently with her current sentence.
“When her Monroe County IL sentence is complete her St. Clair County sentence will also be complete,” Watson wrote in his judgment.
Monroe County Circuit Judge Chris Hitzemann sentenced Nappier on Feb. 21 to four years in prison for theft of between $10,000 and $100,000 from a school, a Class 1 felony, and to one year in prison for deception, a Class 4 felony, to be served concurrently.
She is eligible for sentence credit to serve 50% of the sentence.
Longtime St. Louis attorney Scott Rosenblum represented Nappier in the Monroe County case. He said in a previous interview that they are hopeful she will serve less than a year with additional time off for completing programs and services while in custody. She began serving the sentence in March.
“It was a sad case all the way around and certainly Mrs. Nappier accepted her responsibility and she’s hoping to get this chapter behind her as soon as possible,” Rosenblum said at the time.
Watson also sentenced Nappier to four years in prison for theft of between $10,000 and $100,000 and one year in prison for official misconduct, a Class 3 felony, to be served concurrently and at 50%.
Benedict Song, Nappier’s attorney in the St. Clair County case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Central District 104 Superintendent Gabrielle Rodriguez said in a previous interview that an internal investigation uncovered potential excess payments to Nappier’s payroll and her retirement account of more than $11,000.
According to Monroe County charging documents, Nappier was accused of stealing more than $150,000 from Columbia District 4. An initial charge of theft over $100,000 was dismissed and replaced with the lower-level felony theft charge. A charge of official misconduct in Columbia was also dismissed.
As part of the sentencings, Nappier was also ordered to pay $60,000 in restitution in Columbia and $2,500 in O’Fallon.
BND reporter Madison Lammert contributed information to this report.
