MORRISTOWN, N.J. (Morris County) — A former bookkeeper has been sentenced to probation after admitting to stealing nearly $293,000 from two Roman Catholic parishes in Morris County, authorities said.
Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll and Chief of Detectives Robert McNally announced that Melissa Rivera, 61, of Haskell, was sentenced on Sept. 12 to five years of probation by Superior Court Judge Robert Hanna.
Rivera pleaded guilty on May 19 to two counts of third-degree theft in violation of 2C:20-3A. As part of her sentence, she must repay a combined $292,728 in restitution to the two victim parishes at a rate of $800 a month.
An investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office Financial Crimes Unit found that Rivera stole approximately $192,000 while employed as a bookkeeper at Our Lady of the Mountain Parish in Washington Township by writing herself numerous checks from parish accounts.
Investigators later discovered that between May 2018 and May 2024, Rivera created 137 checks at Our Lady of the Mountain totaling $287,487 and three checks at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Pompton Plains totaling $5,242. The total theft amounted to $292,728, officials said.
Rivera was charged on March 27, 2025.
Prosecutor Carroll credited the work of the Financial Crimes Unit, “whose efforts contributed to the guilty plea in this case.”
