Clerk accused of stealing $2M from Mass. court

LAWRENCE, Mass. - A former Lawrence District Court accounting clerk accused of stealing than $2 million from the probation department has been ordered held on $400,000 cash bail.

Marie Morey of Lawrence pleaded not guilty Thursday in Salem Superior Court to charges of larceny of property worth over $250 and filing and publishing a false written report by a public employee.

The 38-year-old Morey was indicted by an Essex County Grand Jury on Wednesday, and arrested at her home.

Morey had been arrested on Sept. 30 on suspicion of sealing $6,350. Investigators later found that more than $2 million was missing. Prosecutors said she stole $12,000 a week from 2006 through this summer when she quit amid questioning from auditors.

Her attorney, John Valerio, told the court his client is a "homebody" who struggles to pay her bills.