Kentucky school worker pleads guilty in $1.6M fraud scheme

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A former Kentucky school finance director accused of stealing more than $1.6 million from a district over nearly a decade has pleaded guilty to federal charges. The U.S. Justice Department announced in a statement Tuesday that Lesley Wade pleaded guilty to concealing money laundering and filing a fraudulent tax return. Prosecutors say she diverted funds from Franklin County Schools to herself through checks, and channeled money from the school district into accounts at a Frankfort church where she was a treasurer. Wade is scheduled to be sentenced in September. She could face more than 20 years in prison.