BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Buffalo woman has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $270,000 from a church on the city’s East Side and failing to file state income taxes for multiple years.

LaChria Bowden, 55, of Buffalo on Thursday pleaded guilty to one non-violent felony count of grand larceny and one felony count of repeated failure to file personal income and earnings taxes.

Prosecutors with the Erie County District Attorney's Office said that between Nov. 13, 2017, and Sept. 24, 2024, Bowden stole approximately $272,205 while working as an assistant to the church treasurer.

Over nearly seven years, she allegedly wrote preauthorized checks to herself — checks intended for church expenses — and used the stolen funds for living and personal costs. Church leaders discovered the missing money in

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