Mark Woods, former Dunkirk city treasurer, had served in the position since the late 1990s until December.

MAYVILLE – A former Dunkirk treasurer who is accused of stealing more than $100,000 from city coffers made an appearance in court.

On Tuesday, Mark Woods went before state Supreme Court Justice Grace Hanlon. Woods wore a suit and had a wooden cane. He did not speak during the appearance. He is being represented by attorney Justin Ginter of Buffalo.

The case is being prosecuted by Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt.

Woods was arrested in January following an investigation by the District Attorney and state Comptroller’s offices on charges of public corruption, grand larceny and false filing charges stemming from his alleged theft of over $120,000 from the city and covering up the theft by falsifying city records.

After his arrest, Woods was indicted and released on his own recognizance.

Tuesday’s court appearance was a Discovery Conference, where the prosecution outlined its compliance with the discovery laws and stated on the record that the prosecution is now ready for trial.

Schmidt noted in court there is a “large volume of discovery materials” for the defense to review.

The defense was given until July to review the materials and file any objections. The prosecution is given 10 days after that to respond.

The next court date will take place July 13 for an Omnibus Motion, which will address the evidence that could be used in trial.

Schmidt noted that the case could easily take another year or longer before being placed on the trial calendar.

When asked if Woods was being offered a plea deal where he pays back the city, Schmidt said he doesn’t know if Woods has the ability to do so. “From my point of view, the numbers may be so great, given the defendant’s capacity to make restitution, that I don’t know if we can get to a settlement,” he said.

The charges allege that Woods has stolen at least $120,000. Schmidt said over Woods’ 20 years as city treasurer, he could have stolen much more.

“We just don’t have the resources to reverse engineer these types of white collar thefts,” he said.

Schmidt added that they would have continued the investigation if they had believed it was over $1 million, because that would have required a new level of charges.