Embezzlement - private-watertown.k12.sd.us



Embezzlement





Woman sentenced for embezzling at Angus-Palm

By Terry O'Keefe, Staff Writer

Friday, February 20, 2004 11:05 PM CST

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Saying employee theft in the area has "become almost an epidemic," a Codington County judge Friday sentenced a Watertown woman to nine years in prison for stealing from her former employer.

Judge Robert Timm stayed five years of the sentence handed down to 46-year-old Cindy Cormier. Cormier had earlier pleaded guilty to grand theft/embezzlement and admitted to stealing more than $217,000 over a two-year period while employed as assistant controller for Angus-Palm Industries in Watertown.

In her position with the company, Cormier had used a company credit card to get cash advances and then covered up those advances.

Although Cormier expressed remorse, Timm pointed to the pattern of her thefts in sentencing her.

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"It seems to me that within the last few years we've seen more of this (type of crime)," the judge told Cormier. "In fact, to the point where employee theft has become almost an epidemic."

Timm said past cases have involved people with various addictions or just trying to meet basic needs.

"Some do it one time and then stop," he said. "There are others who steal continuously as if they have no conscience until they are stopped.

"I'm going to send a message to the public. I have to look at the nature and circumstances of the offenses. There was a large amount of money involved, the company is employee owned so you also stole from fellow employees. This took place over a long period of time and you did not stop."

When Cormier was charged last fall in relation to the thefts, Angus-Palm CEO Bill Knese said the thefts were discovered last August, a month after Cormier had left the company.

"Routine accounting work disclosed a series of unauthorized cash advances against a company credit card that had been entrusted to (Cormier)," Knese said at the time. "These misappropriations were systematically covered up by a series of accounting entries made to the company's books by this former employee that had the effect of hiding these withdrawals."

Knese said Cormier worked for the company for about five years.

Cormier's attorney, Watertown lawyer Roger Ellyson, told the court prior to sentencing Cormier had been suffering from severe migraine headaches and was also being treated for symptoms of depression, which he said her doctor felt could have influenced her actions.

Ellyson said Cormier's husband had lost his job, they had a new house to pay for and a child going to college, all of which contributed to the financial need.

"She does admit taking a significant amount of money from her employer over a long period of time," Ellyson said. "There is no excuse and Cindy doesn't offer any legal excuse.

"She used the cash card to get cash advances. It got to the point where she knew she would not be able to pay it back. She confessed when confronted by DCI Agent John Bierne. Angus-Palm had insurance that covered a great deal of the loss, but that doesn't change the facts."

Ellyson asked the court to consider Cormier's standing as a good mother of three who had a good reputation as a hard-working person. He requested a suspended imposition of sentence and asked that any jail time be served locally so Cormier could work and begin repayment of the money.

Cormier addressed the court briefly before sentencing, stating her remorse for the crime.

"I want to say how sorry I am," she said. "I violated my employers' trust. I let my family and friends down.

"I am truly sorry."

Timm said the magnitude of the crime dictated the sentence.

"The sentence has to reflect the seriousness of the offense and I consider this a very serious offense," he said. "I have to find just punishment for the offense and I also have to look at deterring others."

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