BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Erie County District Attorney's Office announced that 43-year-old Lisa A. Noble, also known as Lisa Prynn, formerly of Williamsville was arraigned in Erie County Court on an indictment charging her with the following:
- Four counts of second-degree grand larceny
- Three counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument
- One count of third-degree grand larceny
- Three counts of first-degree falsifying business records
Noble is accused of stealing more than $400,000 from St. Amelia Church in the Town of Tonawanda while working as a business manager between April 2023 and September 2023. She was placed on administrative leave and then terminated after further investigation. Noble allegedly spent all the money on concert tickets, travel, lodging, and other personal expenses — including $20,000 on a trip to Kansas City for a Taylor Swift concert.
WATCH RELATED: Police: WNY woman steals nearly $500k from parish
The Diocese of Buffalo issued the following statement on Wednesday:
"The Diocese of Buffalo would like to thank the Erie County District Attorney’s office, as well as the United States Marshals Service, for their work in bringing the alleged St. Amelia parish thief to justice. It has been a long and arduous process, and we also would like to thank parish staff and diocesan internal Audit Department for uncovering the crime last September. Policies and protocols put in place by the diocese have resulted in swift identification of financial irregularities in parishes."
She is also accused of stealing more than $500,000 from a doctor’s office in the City of Tonawanda over about five years while working as an office manager.
Noble allegedly fled to North Carolina and the district attorney's office said a fugitive warrant was issued after the matter was presented to a Grand Jury. She was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Office in the Raleigh, North Carolina area, and after waiving extradition proceedings, she was returned to Western New York to face prosecution.
Noble appeared in court Wednesday with her hands cuffed in front of her and wearing orange sweats to be arraigned on an unsealed indictment an some new details about the church theft case emerged.
Assistant DA chief Gary Ertel of the Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit alleged that Noble was aware she was under investigation and failed to show up for two meetings with the DA’s office.
Late last year, she allegedly wrote goodbye letters to her teenage daughter and mother before leaving for North Carolina. There, she allegedly assumed a fake name, Julie Wilson, and worked as a nanny. She was in the process of applying for a job at an assisted living facility when authorities began searching for her there.
7 News recently spoke with a North Carolina family who hired Noble to be their nanny but had no idea she was a fugitive.
"We feel exposed and we feel very vulnerable," said Garrett Leochko, who's originally from Southern Ontario.
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Ertel said she allegedly engaged in “counter-surveillance.”
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn told reporters that Noble allegedly sent a male friend ahead of her in a separate car to the assisted living facility for a job interview. When they detected U.S. Marshals nearby, they both drove off.
The U.S. Marshals later tracked her down at a library where she was with two children she was babysitting, Flynn said in court. Authorities arrested her and got the children back to their parents.
In asking for the judge to consider releasing her on bail, her attorney Michael Dwan said one of the times she didn’t show up for her meetings with the DA’s office she was hospitalized.
The judge, Acting Erie County Court Judge Andrew LoTempio, remanded her without bail, at least until a bail application hearing can be held in the future.
