--- description: When she realized how easy it was, she said she couldn't stop title: Florida Woman Said It Was 'Easy' to Steal From Girl Scouts, Takes $85,000 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Florida](/tag/florida/) ## Florida Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Florida Woman Said It Was 'Easy' to Steal From Girl Scouts, Takes $85,000 by [Abigail Abrams](/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 1, 2016 7:39 PM CUT by [Abigail Abrams](/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 1, 2016 7:39 PM CUT One Florida woman failed to uphold the [Girl Scout Promise](http://www.girlscouts.org/en/about-girl-scouts/who-we-are.html "undefined"). Stephanie Person, 41, was arrested Wednesday for stealing nearly $85,000 from the Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast, Florida, the [Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office](http://www.sarasotasheriff.org/news/news-releases/item/girl-scouts-employee-steals-thousands-from-organization.html "undefined") said in a news release. She faces charges of grand theft and scheme to defraud. Detectives began investigating in May after the CEO of the Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida noticed more than $75,000 was missing from their account. As the organization’s member services coordinator, Person was responsible for managing 500 troops. She allegedly diverted funds from the accounts of five troops to an inactive account for her own expenses, the [_News-Press_ reported](http://www.news-press.com/story/news/crime/2016/08/31/woman-allegedly-stole-85000-girl-scouts/89658244/ "undefined"). Person told the sheriff’s office she started stealing because she was going through tough financial times. She planned to pay the money back, according to the _News-Press_, but never fixed her financial problems. When she realized how easy it was to take money from the Girl Scouts, she could not stop, the sheriff’s office statement said. **Quiz**: [_Can You Guess These Back to School Prices?_](http://time.com/4461726/back-to-school-prices/ "undefined") She is being held at the Sarasota County Jail on $9,000 bond. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4476612/girl-scouts-woman-stole-money/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4476612/girl-scouts-woman-stole-money/"},"headline":"Florida Woman Said It Was 'Easy' to Steal From Girl Scouts, Takes $85,000","datePublished":"2016-09-01T19:39:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:06:56.492Z","description":"When she realized how easy it was, she said she couldn't stop","url":"https://time.com/4476612/girl-scouts-woman-stole-money/","keywords":["Florida","Crime","Girl Scouts"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/florida/","name":"Florida"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4476612/girl-scouts-woman-stole-money/","name":"Florida Woman Said It Was 'Easy' to Steal From Girl Scouts, Takes $85,000"}}]}] ```