Compulsive Shopper Gets 27 Months

A woman accused of embezzling more than $1.5 million from a credit union and buying more than 1,500 items including hundreds of pairs of shoes, handbags, a $60,000 swimming pool and gambling trips to Las Vegas was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

Betty Jean Barachie, of Kunkletown, bought 58 coats, 16 chain saws, a $25,000 John Deere tractor and more than 3,000 books, piling most of the items in her home with the tags still attached, said Dr. George Perovich, an Allentown psychologist. "She was a compulsive shopper and was one of the most extreme cases I'd ever seen," he said.