POMPANO BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — A former catholic school principal out of Pompano Beach is facing a prison sentence for arranging illegal “extra pay” that totaled more than $230,000 over a period of nearly 10 years.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports Lori Ann St. Thomas faces up to 30 years in prison, but Broward Circuit Judge Tim Bailey allowed her to remain free on bond until her sentencing next month.

St. Thomas served as principal of St. Coleman Catholic School from 2004 to 2024. The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports she arranged for stipends on top of her salary beginning in 2016. According to court records, she was reported to law enforcement in November 2024 and is accused of taking $238,196 in unauthorized payments from the school.

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The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that she received the unauthorized pay through direct deposit.

“Any extra pay would need to be authorized by the head father or superintendent,” an affidavit acquired by the South Florida Sun Sentinel said. “No documentation of the authorization of the extra pay was ever found.”

A defense lawyer, Tonja Hadadd Coleman, said she would appeal the verdict, the South Florida Sun Sentinel says.

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“We respect the jury’s hard work and the attention they paid to the case, but we are disappointed they did not see through the misrepresentations perpetrated by the archdiocese and rubber-stamped by the state attorney’s office,” she said. “It is our position that the evidence presented by the state at trial did not support that conviction.”