TUNBRIDGE — The volunteer fire department’s former longtime bookkeeper took a plea deal for embezzlement in her role that includes 12 days in jail and eight years of probation, approved in a Thursday sentencing.
The fire chief says she got off with a slap on the wrist.
“A whopping 12 days,” Chief Simon Bradford said of the sentence. “…I personally feel that 12 days is not up to what fits the crime.”
Throughout Jacqueline Higgins’ tenure as bookkeeper for the Tunbridge Volunteer Fire Department, she is believed to have stolen nearly $200,000, though Bradford claims it was closer to $240,000.
The 64-year-old woman’s embezzlement charge came with a possibility of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Higgins’ grand larceny charge, dropped when she pleaded guilty to embezzlement, came with a possibility of 10 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Back in August 2025, Vermont State Police learned that the Tunbridge Fire Department discovered significant financial discrepancies in its accounts upon Higgins’ departure after 30 years with the department.
The department initiated an audit in February of last year, and Higgins resigned effective March 31. She informed the department that a sizable deposit was due and reported in March that the balance of the department’s Bar Harbor Savings Bank account was about $199,000, when it was closer to $300.
An internal investigation brought to light “numerous unexplained disbursements, account transfers and inconsistencies in financial procedures,” according to a Vermont State Police affidavit.
Bar Harbor Bank only maintained records from 2014 onward. From June 2014 to March 2025, Higgins made 11 withdrawals totaling nearly $54,000.
Additionally, from December 2016 onward, Higgins issued 64 checks to herself, with the memo line “bookkeeping,” which amounted to $38,000. Higgins was supposed to earn no more than $1,000 to $2,000 per year for her services, the affidavit stated.
Between 2018 and 2024, Higgins executed 64 telephone transfers from the fire department bank account to her personal one, totaling nearly $50,000. Nine inbound telephone transfers returned $14,000 to the original account, with $36,000 unaccounted for.
The investigation discovered many other, smaller unauthorized transfers, as also listed in the affidavit.
On Nov. 5, 2025, Vermont State Police visited Higgins’ place of employment at Williamstown Town Hall to speak with her. Higgins admitted to secretly stealing money over the years, according to court records.
“Jackie said she kept track of the amount she took and estimated that $200,000 was the total,” the affidavit said, indicating she did not have records to confirm this amount.
Higgins told police she had paid back every penny.
Bradford says she has not.
An April 21, 2025 deposit into the department account indicates a $1,564 Mascoma Bank cashier’s check from Higgins, another check for $195,000 from Gavin Higgins, and $200 in cash. Gavin Higgins is Jackie Higgins’ husband.
Higgins explained to police that she confessed in the spring to her husband, who said he was disappointed in her actions.
“But he still provided her with the necessary funds,” the affidavit said.
Higgins also admitted that the unauthorized withdrawals started 10 years back, sparked by personal credit card debt, plus a history of alcohol use up until 2019.
“No one ever reviewed her work or questioned her credibility,” the affidavit stated.
“Just being part of the department, there’s a lot of trust that goes into everybody,” Bradford said Thursday by phone.
From the 11 years of bank records, it’s estimated that Higgins withdrew $194,000 and later returned $197,000 immediately following her resignation, the affidavit stated. Police believe that the returned funds indicate Higgins was “aware of her misconduct during her time as bookkeeper.”
The change of plea from not guilty to guilty included a maximum sentence of two years in jail with a minimum of one year in jail, though it was reduced to 12 days. Higgins is required to report to Southern State Correctional Facility from Friday to Sunday for six consecutive weekends starting in September.
Higgins must also pay a $147 court fee, complete a restorative justice program within 12 months, and participate in 100 hours of community service. She’ll remain on probation for five years.
Michael Shane, Higgins’ attorney, was not available Thursday by phone.
Bradford said there has been an extensive effort to estimate a loss of fire department funds beyond the 10 years of bank records.
“I’ve put hundreds and hundreds of hours into this, but she’s going to have 100 hours of community service,” said Bradford.
