Law office mgr. admits stealing $556K

BUFFALO, NY - A former office manager for two New York law firms has pleaded guilty to stealing $556,765 from the offices over a six-year period.

Paulette Reed told an Erie County Court judge in Buffalo Tuesday that she used the money to pay her children's college tuition and household bills.

Prosecutors say the 44-year-old Lackawanna woman used company checks, wire transfers and bank checks to steal more than $282,000 from the Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman law firm of Buffalo from 2003 to 2008 and $274,000 from the Simpson and Simpson firm of suburban Amherst in 2008 and 2009.

Reed has repaid about $255,000 and has agreed to pay back the rest.

She faces a prison term of up to 15 years when she's sentenced in May.