Woman gets jail time for embezzling $115,000 from Costa Mesa homeowners association

A 71-year-old woman was sentenced to jail and probation and ordered to pay full restitution after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $115,000 from a Costa Mesa homeowners association.

Bonnie Harris of Seal Beach was sentenced Monday to 36 days of jail time and three years’ probation.

Harris paid back $20,000 before the case was filed, the Orange County district attorney’s office said. She provided the court with a cashier’s check Monday for the remaining $95,114, the office said.

The theft occurred between December 2013 and December 2015 while Harris was treasurer of the Cedar Glen Homeowners Assn., according to court documents.

Discrepancies in the board’s bank records were discovered by a new treasurer who was appointed to replace Harris in January 2016, court files stated. Cedar Glen representatives reported the theft to the Costa Mesa Police Department in April 2016, the district attorney’s office said.

Harris pleaded guilty Oct. 9 to four felony counts of embezzlement. She was initially charged with 36 felony counts, with possible sentencing enhancements for damages over $65,000.

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