VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A mother who served as the treasurer for a school band association said she stole more than $9,000 from the group because she was low on funds and she planned on paying the money back, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said the investigation began on Saturday when the band director at Heritage Middle School reported that thousands of dollars was missing from the Heritage Middle School Band Parent Association's bank account.
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A review of the account showed that the association's treasurer, 41-year-old Shawn Sablotne, had written at least $7,940 worth of checks to herself and to her landlord and had kept $1,763 in cash, according to the affidavit. Deputies said that money was meant to go toward band supplies and the association's bills.
When deputies interviewed Sablotne about the missing money, they said she began crying and told them, "I'm wanting to pay it back. I just ran low on some funds."
She agreed to hand over the bank records she had at her home, admitting, "I took money and I'm sorry," according to the report. She also agreed to return an oboe that her child borrowed from Heritage Middle School and a bassoon her other child borrowed from a Volusia County high school, deputies said.
Sablotne was arrested Tuesday on a larceny charge.