Toyzer Claims She Was Set Up

While still facing criminal charges that she used Newtown Township’s FedEx account for personal use, former township secretary Gwen Toyzer said that she was set up.

“I was used as a pawn,” the Havertown resident told Patch Thursday morning in a phone interview.

While not naming names, Toyzer stated that she was used as a link to remove township manager Jim Sheldrake. He was dismissed from office .

A criminal charge was filed against Toyzer by for allegedly using Newtown Township's FedEx account for personal use, billing a total of $1,086.57 in shipment charges to 35 separate personal deliveries around the U.S. that occurred between October 2006 to January 2011.

According to the affidavit, there were 29 shipments made to the Customer Returns Department of Jewelry TV in Knoxville, Tenn., for a total of $922.73 shipment charges made. Six additional shipments were made to various individuals including family members and other online retail stores such as Venus Swimwear and Ann Taylor Loft, totaling to $163.84.

But Toyzer claims that she knew nothing about the shipping charges and that they were not brought to her attention, adding that she did nothing wrong and would have paid the charges sooner if someone came to her right away.

Toyzer said that a person at Jewelry TV did not properly explain the shipping policy to her, but added that someone in the township intentionally made sure that she never received the shipping charges.

“I was an easy link to the boss,” Toyzer said, who claims she has suffered from depression and had a heart attack since she was charged.

However Newtown Township Supervisors Chairman Joseph Catania said that he does not believe Toyzer’s claims.

“She was not set up by anyone. She used the (township FedEx) account for her own personal business over 30 times without reimbursement. How and who could have possibly set this up? She filled out the forms and charged the township account instead of her own credit card account,” he wrote in an email Thursday night, responding to Patch’s earlier request for a comment.

After waiving her , Toyzer has filed for a rehabilitation program.

The office of the Criminal Court told Patch Thursday morning that Toyzer would not be making her formal arraignment scheduled for Thursday at the Court of Common Pleas because she filed an Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD). 

An ARD is a rehabilitation program for first-time offenders, explained the Criminal Court office, with the Delaware County District Attorney’s office adding that it could be at least two weeks or more before Toyzer’s request is approved or denied. If the request is approved, Toyzer’s case will not go to trial.

Toyzer said that her lawyer told her they have enough evidence to clear her in court, but she decided against it. She claimed that she would not be able to handle the stress of going through a trial.

Her co-defendants in the case had their charges dropped on Thursday. Please click .