Man pleads guilty to theft from SCAT

The son of a former Seneca County Agency Transportation director pleaded guilty to theft and admitted to stealing from the agency Thursday. Michael E. Woodman, 22, of Tiffin, appeared before visiting Judge Charles Wittenberg in Seneca County Common Pleas Court and entered a guilty plea to theft, a fifth-degree felony. His mother, Susan J. Phillips, initially was charged after $6,500 allegedly was transferred from SCAT’s account into her account. Phillips had stood trial on a fifth-degree felony theft charge, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict in March. During his mother’s trial, Woodman took responsibility for the theft. He testified his mother got the money for him, and he did not tell her it was money he had gotten from SCAT. In court Thursday, Woodman told Wittenberg he found out there was money in an account at SCAT, transferred it to another bank account and took out the money. A pre-sentence report was ordered. Under a joint sentencing recommendation, Woodman would serve three years of community control. He could face up to 12 months in prison and up to a $2,500 fine. After her trial, Phillips was charged with falsification, a first-degree misdemeanor.