BOSTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Massachusetts), published as received.
BOSTON – A Weymouth woman pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with a fraud scheme in which she stole approximately $701,826 from her employer.
Katelin Garland, 39, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for Feb. 1, 2017.
As an administrative manager, Garland was responsible for depositing checks received, maintaining the record-keeping system, and requesting checks payable for entities in connection with business services. From approximately October 2011 to October 2015, Garland took advantage of flaws in her employer’s accounting and auditing systems and requested checks payable to fictitious names, which she then endorsed for deposit to a bank account she controlled. To conceal the scheme, Garland made false entries in her employer’s record-keeping system concerning those payments. She used the funds to pay for routine living expenses, tickets to sporting events, private school tuition for her children, and to purchase a boat, travel, and to shop.
The charging statute provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 and restitution. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Balthazard of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
