NEW YORK — A Manhattan high school teacher was arrested Monday for forging a jury duty notice to justify over two weeks of paid absences, according to myfoxny.com.

Investigators say Mona Lisa Tello, 61, submitted a letter purportedly issued by the Superior Court of New Jersey to Principal Jarod Resnick at the High School of Graphic Communication Arts in Midtown. Resnick later noticed several misspelled words, including “trail” and “sited” inplace of “trial” and “cited.” The phone and fax numbers were wrong, as was the address.

Resnick contacted a court official, who said Tello’s jury duty had in fact been deferred. The principal then alerted Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon, who reported his findings to the Manhattan District Attorney. Condon recommended Tello be terminated from the New York City Board of Education and barred from future employment in the school system. Tello faces charges of forgery, criminal possession and filing a false document.

According to the New York Daily News, Tello has agreed to retire by Friday and reimburse the city for the 15 days of wages she collected while supposedly serving as a juror.

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Ariana Costakes is a Blast New York correspondent

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