Ex-treasurer of student bar association attributes $33K theft to 'dark period' of addiction
A former treasurer of the student bar association at the University of Baltimore law school has pleaded guilty to stealing $33,000 from the group and promised to repay the money.
Margaret Oyler, 29, received a suspended sentence of five years in prison and three years of probation with substance abuse treatment, the Baltimore Sun reports. She told the newspaper the theft occurred during “an extremely dark period” when she was drinking and taking prescription painkillers. She did not graduate from the law school.
Oyler was accused of stealing the money between 2010 and 2012. Julius Blattner, who was the president of the student bar association at the time, told the Baltimore Sun that Oyler had prepared false financial statements for the board. He became suspicious, he said, when he asked Oyler to summarize the bar group’s finances and noticed some spending irregularities.
Prosecutors say Oyler confessed to Blattner, but Oyler told the Sun she can’t remember it because “I was so drunk.” She attempted suicide after the meeting with Blattner, according to the newspaper. “Everything that I’m trying to do is trying to right this wrong and correct this mistake,” she said.
