A former jewelry store employee accused of stealing thousands in merchandise has pleaded not guilty in Vestal Town Court. 48-year-old Lynn Orlando was charged in late April after she allegedly stole about $21,000 in money and merchandise from Comfort Gifts & Engravings on the Vestal Parkway. Orlando served as the manager of the gift store. According to reports, the thefts are said to have begun around February of 2012 and continued until this past January. Orlando has been accused of stealing pieces of jewelry, hand bags, and other merchandise totaling over $17,000 in value, along with close to $4,000 from the store’s business safe. She’s also being accused of forging the signature of Michael Comfort, the store’s co-owner, on a sales receipt to rent a hotel room in Georgia back in August, before faxing the paperwork to the hotel and destroying the original copies of the paperwork. The cost of the hotel room totaled over $1,000. Orlando is facing felony counts of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, falsifying business records, identity theft, and forgery. Both the possession of stolen property and the falsifying business records charges are punishable by up to four years in state prison upon conviction, while the other charges are punishable by up to seven years in prison.
