Former Blair County Deputy Treasurer Brenda Ann Bryan has been charged with felony theft for allegedly stealing nearly $18,000 from the county over the course of three months to gamble on Skills machines.

Hollidaysburg Police Chief Christopher Storm responded to the Blair County Courthouse about 10 a.m. Feb. 25 and was taken to the human resources office, where he spoke with Director Melena Kogler. Kogler told Storm that Bryan, 58, admitted to stealing money from the county upon her arrival at work that morning, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

Bryan agreed to go with Storm to the Hollidaysburg Borough Police Department for an interview and, upon their arrival at the station, told him she spent what were meant to be cash deposits for the county. Bryan said the thefts occurred in January and February with a total between $17,000 and $18,000. When Storm asked about exact dates, Bryan produced three First National Bank deposit tickets from a blue bank deposit bag that was inside her tote bag, the police report stated.

Storm noted two of the deposit tickets were dated Dec. 11, 2024, and were in the amounts of $501 and $705. The third ticket was dated Feb. 6, 2025, for the amount of $5,800 and also included a check in the amount of $131.42. This check was then deposited at the bank about 3:20 p.m. on Feb. 18, 2025, the report stated.

Bryan told Storm she didn’t make a deposit ticket during the first week of January and the amount she took then was about $10,900.

When asked if that would “throw up a red flag” with the county, Bryan said it would “at some point” and “she knew she would be confessing.” She said there was a receipt for the $10,900 in the general fund at the courthouse, the report stated.

Bryan said she spent the money gambling on Skills machines but she “couldn’t live like this.” She told Storm it was “their” money and “(she) needed to pay it back.”

Bryan said she kept the deposit tickets so she knew how much she owed the county and if she won the money back, she was going to make a new deposit ticket “with one of the original amounts and deposit the money,” the report stated.

Bryan told Storm that in addition to Kogler, she had also informed Treasurer James Carothers and Secretary Kathleen Grove about the thefts. Deputy Controller Angela Wagner of the Blair County Treasurer’s Office then conducted an audit and confirmed that Bryan failed to deposit four county cash deposits, taking possession of the money for her own personal gain, the report stated.

According to the affidavit, the audit included all treasurer’s office receipts from December 2024 until February 2025, as well as a bank transaction history for both the general fund checking and the tax claim fund checking accounts. The cash deposits Bryan stole included two on Dec. 11, 2024, for $501 and $750; one on Jan. 3, 2025, for $10,936.20 and one on Feb. 6, 2025, for $5,800, for a total of $17,987.20.

County records show that Blair County Commissioners voted to terminate Bryan’s employment on March 6, effective Feb. 26.

Bryan was arraigned Thursday by Magisterial District Judge Paula M. Aigner on felony charges of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received, theft by deception and receiving stolen property. She remains free on $75,000 unsecured bail and awaits a preliminary hearing in front of Aigner on Aug. 5.