CHESAPEAKE
A 37-year-old woman will serve six years in prison after she was sentenced Friday in Chesapeake Circuit Court for embezzling more than $300,000 from her employer.
Misti Marie Moore, standing before the court in a jail uniform, said she gave the money to people who needed it.
"I wanted to make everyone else happy," she said.
Moore pleaded guilty in January to six counts of embezzlement. Judge V. Thomas Forehand Jr. sentenced her to 20 years, with 19 years suspended, on each felony count.
Forehand also ordered Moore to make restitution in the amount of $289,963.
The Chesapeake woman pleaded guilty to embezzling money for more than four years from Allpro Professional Plumbing in Greenbrier, a division of the DaviShar Group. Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi said Moore, an office manager, diverted 538 checks made out to Allpro to an account she created in North Carolina.
Moore began embezzling money in December 2002 from the family-owned business. The crime started with the diversion of 11 checks and continued to grow over the years, Fatehi said. In one year, Moore embezzled $165,000.
She would receive checks for plumbing services, then not process all the funds into the company's system.
Moore, represented by attorney Sharon Mason, apologized to her employer and the court.
"I know sorry isn't good enough, but I can't do any better than that in jail," she said.
Moore was arrested in September 2007. She has been in jail the past 10 months.
Fatehi had asked the court to sentence her to nine years in prison. Moore's actions nearly bankrupted the company, putting the employer in debt to the Internal Revenue Service, said its president, Thomas Sharpley Sr.. It took more than two years for the Chesapeake company to clear its debt with the IRS, Sharpley testified.
John Hopkins, (757) 222-5221, john.hopkins@pilotonline.com
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Since when do the owners of a business share the blame with a thief? I do not under stand people thought process. They were duped by a THIEF, it's that simple! She knew what she was doing was against the law, when are people going to start standing up to thieves and other bad people. Society needs to stop feeling sorry for the criminals, oh, they had a hard life, a broken home etc..., regardless of thier upbringing, they know the rules and laws of society...so build more jails and do away with parole and light senteces. Make jail a place that is for PUNISHMENT...not REHABILITATION!
Got it ! one year for each of six counts
it clicked so it is 6 years, which is very excessive
joanie06 may be right? or wrong?
"A 37-year-old woman will serve six years in prison after she was sentenced Friday in Chesapeake Circuit Court for embezzling more than $300,000 from her employer" Which sounds like 6 years in prison to me, however further down we read: "Moore pleaded guilty in January to six counts of embezzlement. Judge V. Thomas Forehand Jr. sentenced her to 20 years, with 19 years suspended, on each felony count". That sounds like a year
So who knows how long she is going to prison?
A VERY EASY JUDGE
Look on the same page of today's VP. This is the same judge who also cleared a woman of charges of leaving her young child alone in a car on for 4 hours on a cold night.
Another option
Make her work for the company for the next 10 years without pay...that's the perfect punishment.
Advise
Yes, she should be locked up for as long as possible. However, I hope the owner has learned what 'double blind' accounting means. Folks, no matter how much you trust your staff, you never allow the person who rectifies your books to be able to write checks. Allpro learned an expensive lesson. They must have saved a lot of money by not hiring a qualified accountant.
1 year in jail excessive for
1 year in jail excessive for stealing $300,000? You are nuts. I agree though that the leadership is partly to blame. They hired her and the failed to keep an eye on her. Sadly, but today you cannot trust anyone.
Where was the oversight?
Allpro Professional Plumbing leadership is partly responsible for not tending to it's business. The leadership should have been watching the purse strings a little closer. The jail time seems to me to be excessive.