Salon bookkeeper guilty of ID theft

A Newport Beach woman was sentenced to two years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to bilking a local salon out of $245,000 when she acted as its accountant.

As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, an emotional, red-faced Bethany Jane Brady, 44, pleaded guilty at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach to identity theft and grand theft, among other charges.

Between October 2006 and August 2009, Brady doctored the books at Newport Beach’s Hampton Salon, where she was the company’s accountant. She had used company money to pay for personal expenses like utility and credit card bills.

Brady was hired privately as the company’s accountant after years of handling their books with a larger firm. Hampton Salon retained her services after she was fired from her company.

The money was discovered missing after the company audited its finances.

Brady was ordered to pay about $250,000 in restitution.

— Joseph Serna