Former Tax Collector to Decide on Plea Offer on July 31

The state's attorney's office has made a plea offer to former Oxford tax collector Karen Guillet that could include her having to pay financial restitution.

The Valley Independent Sentinel reported Wednesday that Guillet appeared in Milford Superior Court for a pre-trial agreement and that Judge Richard Arnold would not reveal details of the settlement offer. The judge gave Guillet's attorney, Dominick Thomas, one last continuence to July 31, at which date Guillet must reveal whether she will accept or reject the state's offer. 

Guillet, 62, stands accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the tax office, where she served as the elected tax collector for 24 years.

She has been charged with six counts of first-degree forgery and one count of first-degree larceny following a two-year investigation by the Connecticut State Police Major Crimes Squad, which accuses Guillet of stealing more than $240,000 from taxpayers. 

The town has filed a civil lawsuit, which is being held in abeyance until the criminal case is resolved, that says Guillet stole at least $670,000, although many believe it was more.

spells out exactly what Guillet used to money on. The affidavit does not describe a woman who was stealing the money for chairty or helping a sick relative; it describes someone who was simply greedy.

• The affidavit discusses how Guillet’s bank and credit card statements show purchases for upscale shoes, trips to casinos and hotels, vacations worth thousands, two separate dog walkers – one of whom she paid $100 a day, deliveries of fresh flowers once a week, a cleaning lady and purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue, among other upscale stores.
• The affidavit details how in 2007, she spent $9,437 in nine months at a spa and salon in Southbury; she spent $2,382 during a one-night stay at an upscale hotel in New Hampshire. She would frequently shop at upscale stores in Fairfield County and spend between $3,500 and $6,000 in one trip, the affidavit states.

Guillet's alleged theft has had far reaching effects in this small rural town of less than 13,000 people.

Thousands of people now show up on a  even though they paid their taxes on time and in full. Guillet did not credit their accounts so she could make it appear as if people just didn't pay their taxes, according to court documents and assertions by town officials.  

On top of a civil lawsuit, the town has filed a  with a Superior Court judge in an attempt to learn what it needs to do to remove people who paid from the delinquent list.