Former Urban County Second District Councilwoman Sasha Love Higgins faces up to two-years in prison after admitting to cashing bogus payroll checks at the hotel she used to manage. On Friday, she pleaded guilty to two felonies and three misdemeanors.
The case began with an identity theft report in January of this year. Court documents say while Higgins was managing a Hampton Inn in Lexington, she continued to issue fraudulent checks to a former employee months after that employee no longer worked at the hotel.
According to court documents the former employee’s husband contacted Higgins to ask about the checks and she admitted she had continued to issue the checks. The former employee’s husband recorded the phone call with Higgins and shared it with Lexington Police.
The bogus checks totaled more than $4,000. Investigators say Higgins asked Hampton Inn to set up a MetaBank account in the former employee’s name that Higgins used to funnel the money for her own personal use.
Higgins resigned from the Urban County Council not long after she was charged in the criminal case.
She is scheduled to be sentenced October 5, 2017.
