Bend office manager pleads no contest to embezzlement

A Bend-area woman accused of embezzling at least $150,000 while working as office manager for a well-known golf course designer entered no-contest pleas Wednesday to four of the 16 charges she faced, thus avoiding an upcoming trial.

Katrina Kennedy Cannon, now 40, was arrested on more than 400 charges last June, but formally indicted on 16 counts of theft, ID theft, money laundering and related charges. A judge cut her initial bail from $4 million to $125,000 and she was released pending arraignment.

Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Daniel Reesor said Cannon stole the money over a three-year period while working for DMK Golf Design, David McLay Kidd’s firm, which designs and builds golf courses around the world. He said she “committed money laundering to conceal and facilitate her ongoing thefts.”

On Wednesday, Cannon pleaded no content to one count of first-degree aggravated theft, two counts of aggravated ID theft and one count of criminal forfeiture, Reesor said. Circuit Judge Stephen Forte set sentencing for July 16 at 3 p.m.

The prosecutor said he will recommend the judge sentence Cannon to two years in prison, if she “pays a substantial amount of restitution” to her victim — at least $50,000 — by the date of her sentencing. If she does not, Reesor said the prosecution will recommend a four-year prison term instead.

The case had been scheduled for a five-day trial starting June 4, with a trial readiness hearing on May 30.