A former Bristol Township administrator will not serve jail time after admitting to misappropriating more than $14,000 in public money last year.
At a Bucks County court appearance Sept. 8, former Parks and Recreations Director Jessica Ireland, 41, of Bristol Township, entered guilty pleas to felony theft by unlawful taking and a misdemeanor charge of misapplication of government property.
Common Pleas Judge Raymond McHugh accepted the pleas and sentenced Ireland to two years of probation and ordered restitution.
Ireland initially faced additional felony and misdemeanor charges, but the DA’s office withdrew them after she agreed to waive her right to a preliminary
hearing earlier this year.
Before McHugh imposed his sentence, Bristol Township Manager Randee Mazur read a victim impact statement asking the court to impose a sentence that reflected the “deliberate, repeated and concealed nature of this conduct.”
Mazur noted Ireland had opportunities to stop her conduct, which damaged the public institution she was entrusted to serve.
“We ask the court to recognize that the victims of this conduct include more than Bristol Township as a corporate entity. They include our employees, our leadership, our public program and every resident who entrusted us to safeguard public resources,” Mazur said.
Bristol Township police allege Ireland made more than 350 unauthorized personal purchases on a township-issued credit card and withheld township funds.
Police began investigating last year after Ireland was promoted to her director position and refused to relinquish her township Amazon account status to her replacement. The account had the highest level of approval for Amazon purchases.
In her previous job Ireland was the confidential secretary to the township manager and managed the township’s Amazon business account, according to a probable cause affidavit.
In September 2025, Mazur found several unauthorized Amazon purchases on the township’s credit card made under Ireland’s township account.
When confronted, Ireland said she accidentally charged the items to Bristol Township’s account instead of her personal account, court documents alleged.
A few months later, though, Ireland’s personal cellphone bill was allegedly charged to the previous parks and recreation director’s township credit card. Other Amazon purchases were also made on this credit card, police said.
A review of the Amazon Business account the purchases, allegedly found the purchases were all made under the defendant's Bristol Township Business account and were unauthorized.
An investigation found Ireland allegedly purchased more than 370 unauthorized items totalling more than $14,000 from March 2025 through December.
Ireland used her personal Venmo account to collect raffle money during Bristol Township’s Fall Festival last September, police said. A review of the account showed 14 payments to Ireland totalling $340, but the township never received the money.
Investigators also found that Ireland did not turn in $400 in cash security deposits taken for future facility rentals that had been booked.
When police interviewed Ireland she told them she had “impulsivity of spending money without knowing before it’s too late,” the affidavit said.
Crime and Courts Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: No jailtime for ex-Bristol Township director for misappropriation
