By HANA KIM
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) - Ex-Knox County Community Services Director Cynthia Finch was sentenced Friday to two years of unsupervised probation for felony forgery convictions.
Finch was convicted in January of a Class D forgery and a Class E forgery after a three-day trial.
The jury found her guilty of forging a FedEx Kinko's invoice of $1,759 and another invoice for under $500 while she served in the administration of former Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale.
Before Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood made his decision on the sentencing, the prosecution argued for Finch to be given a few months in jail.
Finch's defense attorney argued that she should be granted judicial diversion, meaning she would not serve jail time unless she got back into trouble with the law.
Finch sat quietly Friday as the prosecution rehashed her previous role supervising more than 500 Knox County employees. It was a high ranking position that came with a big salary.
"The last adjustment was $122,800," said Knox County Human Resources Director Frances Fogerson.
Most of the speaking in court was done by Judge Blackwood. "Everybody that abused the P-card knew at that time that they were abusing their trust as a public official," he said.
Judge Blackwood gave Finch a lecture, calling her an educated woman living the American dream.
He said her career and reputation were tarnished after questionable purchasing card charges and an attempt to cover it up.
Finch did not testify, but her defense attorney essentially called her a scapegoat saying other people involved in the questionable spending were never criminally prosecuted.
Prosecutor Michael Meyer responded, "Nobody else submitted forged receipts in the course of an audit. The defendant was the only one who did that. We reject that the state took any position of scapegoating."
The judge however revealed that he thought perhaps Finch was a scapegoat. "I am going to say deep down in my heart that there is something about that that is not fair," Judge Blackwood said.
Following that statement, Finch broke down in tears crying loudly inside the courtroom.
6 News asked Finch how she felt about the sentence as she walked away a free woman. "God is still good. God is still good. Knox County is still a great place to live," she said.
Since Finch received probation, her felony conviction will be on her record. Judicial diversion would have allowed the conviction to be expunged down the road.
Cynthia Finch
