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A former Keene woman was sentenced to 30 months in jail Tuesday in federal court for stealing almost $500,000 from her employer between 2015 and 2021, spending the money on flights, a hot tub, and Patriots tickets, prosecutors announced Wednesday. Stephanie Pratt, 39, was sentenced by U.S.
District Court Judge Landya B. McCafferty to 30 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release. On August 6, 2024, Pratt pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
“The defendant used her position of trust as an employee to steal nearly a half-million dollars from a small New Hampshire business,” said U.S. Attorney Jane E.
Young. “Among other items, she used the stolen money to purchase a hot tub and she spent over $5,600 on lavish tickets to watch Tom Brady’s return to Gillette Stadium. The defendant’s criminal conduct was bold, as she began her fraud only six months after serving a sentence for stealing from a previous employer.
” According to the charging documents, Pratt was the office administrator for Washburn Vault in Hinsdale, a provider of precast concrete and concrete redimix services. As such, she had full access to the company’s finances, including its bank accounts and credit cards with TD Bank, Brattleboro Savings and Loan, and Chase. Prosecutors allege Pratt stole $492,325.
34 from the company between June 2015 and December 2021. She allegedly accessed the company’s bank account, checkbook and credit cards to either transfer money to accounts she controlled or make personal purchases from a variety of retailers and companies such as Amazon, Geico and the Pampered Chef, according to the charging documents. Prosecutors claim Pratt cashed unauthorized checks to herself and entered them as payments to legitimate vendors in the company’s accounting system.
She also allegedly used the company’s credit cards to make unauthorized personal purchases, including for items like plane tickets, a smart TV, a hot tub, Patriots tickets, and various herbs and spices. Charging documents list the following dates and dollar amounts for purchases allegedly made by Pratt: April 23, 2019: $896 Southwest Airlines plane tickets Sept. 23, 2020: $560.
86 Geico Insurance Premium Nov. 13, 2020: $259.05 Pampered Chef miscellaneous spices and food products July 14, 2021: $497.
99 Amazon Smart TV July 26, 2021: $759.75 Amazon hot tub Sept. 20, 2021: $5,425.
95 ViaGoGo Patriots tickets..
