Putnam County Clerk of Court employee arrested

Deputies: 15-year employee fraudulently obtained, cashed 18 checks totaling $84,851

PALATKA, Fla. – Deputies say an employee in the Finance Department of the Putnam County Clerk of the Court has been arrested after she was accused of official misconduct, organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, and 19 counts of uttering forged bank notes.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office said detectives initiated an investigation after the county's Clerk of the Court Tim Smith discovered a large amount of money missing from an operating account.

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Detectives determined that 42-year-old Sharon Janene Blount, a 15-year employee with the Clerk of Courts Office, had fraudulently obtained and cashed 18 checks totaling $84,851.

Deputies said it was verified that the thefts had been taking place since June this year.

Blount was taken into custody Thursday after detectives intercepted an $8,000 check that she delivered to an individual in the parking lot of the Putnam County Courthouse, deputies said.

Blount was booked into the Putnam County Jail. Deputies said she is currently being held with a $27,588 bond, however, the Sheriff has ordered that Blount be held without a bond until first appearance.