The former director of an Orange County historical site recently pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges from her time in charge.

Ronda Tucker of Hillsborough pleaded guilty to felony counts of embezzlement in Orange County Superior Court on Tuesday. The charges stem from her spending of funds for the Burwell School on personal services in 2019.

Tucker ultimately accepted a plea deal that included four counts of plain embezzlement instead of charges for embezzlement of more than $100,000. She will serve a minimum of one year in prison, followed by a one-year suspended sentence with five years of probation. During that time, Tucker will aim to pay restitution.

Ronda Tucker, a Hillsborough resident, will face a minimum of one year in prison for her embezzlement of the Burwell School historical site. (Photo via the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.)

The Burwell School, which is the site of a 19th century girls’ school, is owned and operated by the Hillsborough Historic Commission. Located off the corner of West Union and North Churton Streets, the site hired Tucker as a guide in 2016 before promoting her to executive director in January 2019.

Amid discoveries of financial discrepancies in June 2019, which stemmed from Tucker spending more than $175,000 on personal good and services, the school fired Tucker and authorities charged her in October 2019.

Following Tucker’s firing, an internal investigation found the Burwell School failed to complete a full background check on Tucker when hiring her. Tucker previous pleaded guilty to a felony theft charge in 2005 from Orange County, Florida. She completed more than 100 hours of community service and three years of probation as part of the punishment in that case.

When reached on Wednesday, the Hillsborough Historic Commission said the Burwell School planned to not share any comment’s on Tucker’s conviction.

Photo via the Burwell School on Facebook.

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