Dubuque woman to serve 18 months in federal prison for embezzlement

CEDAR RAPIDS - A Dubuque woman was sentenced Tuesday to more than a year in federal prison for embezzling more than $70,000 from her employer's business over an eight-year period.

Jennifer Shively, 35, pleaded guilty in March to one count of mail fraud in U.S. District Court. Shively, as a bookkeeper for her employer, 'M.L.,” admitted during the hearing that she wrote unauthorized checks on his or the business' accounts for cash, opened a Citibank credit card in the employer's name for her personal use and used his money to pay for items charged to the card from August 2012 to March 2014. Court documents don't include the full name of her former Dubuque employer or the business.

U.S. District Senior Judge Linda Reade sentenced Shively to 18 months in prison and also ordered her to serve three years on supervised release following her prison time. Shively will have to pay $79,751 in victims' restitution to her former employer and Citibank.

Court documents show Shively owed about $80,000 but has paid $1,125 so far.

Shively racked up credit card debt of $31,102 and made payments to the card from M.L.'s account for $10,224, the plea agreement shows. Citibank also charged the account $4,259 in interest and $696 in fees during this time. The total amount still owed on the account is at least $18,376, according to court records.

Shively stole about $70,137 during the fraud, including $9,403 in checks issued to her or for cash, $29,632 in unauthorized payments to her personal creditors and the credit card charges, the plea shows. Shively made about $45,000 a year as the bookkeeper, according to court documents.

Shively, as the bookkeeper, had little supervision and was given 'significant discretion and authority” over her employer's business finances, according to the plea.

Court documents show Shively ultimately confessed to her employer that she had stolen money, but she admitted that she did it because an audit was going to be conducted and he would learn of her embezzlement.

Reade included in the special conditions of supervised release that Shively cannot be in any casino and she must also participate in a gambling addiction evaluation, along with a mental health evaluation.

During the plea hearing in March, a judge mentioned that Shively, at one point, was gambling, in an attempt to win money to pay off her debt.

l Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com