Ex-charter school teacher pleads guilty to stealing supplies
A former charter school employee accused of a scheme to steal thousands of dollars in school materials pleaded guilty to a felony theft charge on Monday.
Christopher Olmstead, 36, a teacher at the Legacy Traditional School, was arrested in July along with the school’s principal, Victoria Welling, and fellow teacher Andrea Fuentes-Soto.
Olmstead appeared in court Monday through a video call to plead guilty to a theft charge. Both Welling and Fuentes-Soto pleaded guilty to similar charges earlier this year.
According to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report, Welling had allowed the two sixth-grade teachers to use fake names to apply for money and classroom materials from a nonprofit crowdfunding site. According to the report, Welling ignored an email from the crowdfunding site about the suspicious activity, which prompted a police investigation.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Colleen Baharav said prosecutors have determined that Welling held less culpability for the thefts than the two teachers. The principal pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit theft in February and was sentenced to credit for time she had already served in custody.
According to the arrest report, Olmstead and Fuentes-Soto applied for multiple grants up to $954. Olmstead made 21 accounts to submit applications, and Fuentes-Soto made 16 accounts.
The teachers received $150,000 worth of materials from the website, though Baharav said Monday that the school had properly applied for about $30,000 worth of supplies.
In court Monday, District Judge Ronald Israel asked Olmstead if he had taken iPads, tablets, electronics, cleaning goods, household goods and toys from the website by using fake names from about October 2021 through December 2021.
“Did you do that?” the judge asked
“Yes, your honor,” Olmstead said.
His defense attorney, Charles Goodwin, declined to comment after the hearing.
The two teachers were fired from the school in December 2021, and the Clark County School District said in July that Welling had been offered a position as an assistant principal at another school in the district but did not accept the job.
Baharav said that police had recovered all the stolen items, and that Olmstead and Fuentes-Soto have paid about $4,200 and $3,600 in restitution, respectively.
Although a judge will have the final say on Olmstead’s sentence, prosecutors have agreed that he can be sentenced to probation, according to the guilty plea agreement. Fuentes-Soto, who pleaded guilty to the same theft charge, was sentenced to probation in April.
Both teachers will be allowed to change their plea to a gross misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit theft if they successfully complete probation.
Olmstead is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 11.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.
