craigdailypress.com

A former employee of Dr. John Ilko, a Craig dentist, is facing 23 felony charges for alleged theft and forgery in separate incidents dating back to January 2003.

Beverly Kostur, 44, allegedly embezzled up to $7,200 from the dentist's office between Jan. 15, 2003, and March 11, 2004, according to a police report, said Lt. John Forgay of the Craig Police Department.

Each theft charge alleges that Kostur at least twice took cash and each forgery charge alleges she forged a check.

Forgay said that Kostur no longer is employed at the dentist's office. He said police received the first report from the dentist's office in late August, but he declined to give further details in the case.

Ilko could not be reached for comment Tuesday or Wednesday.

The four theft charges are Class 4 felonies, which hold a higher possible sentence upon conviction compared with the remaining 19 Class 5 felony forgery charges.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Amy Fitch said the case required multiple charges because theft charges have to be grouped separately.

"It's like if someone shoots out different windows on the same house they can be charged for each one of those," Forgay said.

Fitch declined to comment whether Ilko pressed the case forward after reporting the allegations to the police.

The District Attorney's Office has discretion whether to press charges after receiving a case.

Possible sentencing upon conviction could mean from two to six years in jail for each of the four theft charges and from one to three years in jail for each of the 19 forgery charges. Fines could be from $2,000 to $500,000 for each theft charge and from $1,000 to $100,000 for each forgery charge.

Kostur is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 21.

Amy Hatten can be reached at 824-7031 or ahatten@craigdailypress.com.