ATHOL - Former Athol City Clerk Sally Hansen has been charged with allegedly stealing more than $400,000 during her five years on the job.

In paperwork filed with the U.S. District Court on Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci Whelan alleges Hansen embezzled $417,879.

"During 2009 to 2014, the defendant wrote approximately 227 checks to herself or her husband which she represented to be paychecks, but which did not in fact represent any money legitimately due to her or her husband," the charging document states. "The defendant regularly deposited these fraudulently obtained checks into her personal bank account and used the funds for her own personal use."

Whelan said at least 15 of those transactions - totaling more than $97,000 - involved interstate wire transmissions, leading to 15 wire fraud charges.

Hansen was fired in July and has been under investigation for embezzling city funds ever since.

Hansen and her husband, Chuck, who was the lead grounds employee for the Lakeland Joint School District and served as a Timberlake Fire Protection District commissioner, fled the area after Hansen was fired, detectives said late last year.

Whelan said the "information" document that was filed with the court this week is only an allegation at this point and the charges still need to be proven in court.

She declined to comment further on the case until the court proceedings are concluded.

Athol Mayor Darla Kuhman was happy to hear that charges have been filed.

"I am really hopeful that justice will be served in this case," Kuhman said, adding that she can't wait for the details to be revealed in court. Until then, she said she cannot comment on the details because many of them may be used as exhibits in Hansen's court proceedings.

"The public has the right to know, and when I can talk about that, I will," she said.

Until then, Kuhman wants to encourage people, no matter where they live, to start paying attention to local government.

"Go to your city council meetings and demand to see the bills," she said. "I wish I would have started doing that sooner, but it's much easier to think someone in the city is taking care of you - but often times they are not."