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    • Evansville woman pleads guilty in .8 million embezzlement case
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    Evansville woman pleads guilty in $1.8 million embezzlement case

    Sakege Posted on

    EVANSVILLE — An Evansville woman orchestrated a years-long financial fraud scheme that defrauded her employer of more than $1.8 million; a bribe so brazen and well-documented that she filed a motion to plead guilty the same day she was charged.

    On November 6, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana unsealed a six-count indictment charging Marcie J. Doty with exploiting her management position at an unnamed Evansville company to commit wire fraud and tax crimes.

    That same day, Doty filed a motion to plead guilty to the charges, according to legal documents. In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors stated that Doty had taken “personal responsibility” for his crimes.

    Evansville-based attorney Barry Blackard, who serves as Doty’s legal counsel along with attorney Dennis Brinkmeyer, had no comment on the case when reached by phone Monday evening.

    While a jury trial that could publicly reveal the inner workings of Doty’s fraud now appears unlikely, court records shed some light on what prosecutors said was his years-long effort to steal money from his employer.

    According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew B. Miller, Doty issued nearly 100 unauthorized checks and money transfers on behalf of the unnamed Evansville company between 2017 and 2022, transactions that left a trail of records at financial institutions.

    In total, prosecutors accused Doty of stealing approximately $1,803,466 by depositing unauthorized checks and transfers into personal bank accounts at German American Bank and Evansville Federal Credit Union.

    “As an example, on or about February 5, 2021, Doty issued an unauthorized check in the amount of $10,059.30 to herself,” Miller wrote in the complaint. “Doty deposited the check into his account at German American Bank that same day.”

    As required by banking regulations, German American sent an image of the check and relevant data about the transaction to a Federal Reserve Bank as part of the check clearing process, prosecutors explained.

    According to Miller, the accounting software used by Doty’s employer also recorded the thefts. Doty, however, falsified the data he entered into the software in an effort to cover his tracks, prosecutors said, calling the unauthorized transfers business expenses.

    Doty pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with the Feb. 5, 2021, transaction. Doty’s remaining charges stem from what Miller described as his “deliberate” failure to report his ill-gotten gains on tax returns. federal taxes.

    Between 2018 and 2020, Doty failed to report approximately $786,280 in income, according to the complaint. Over the next two years, he hid more than $1 million in taxable income by failing to file tax returns, according to a legal document.

    Doty pleaded guilty to three counts of filing a false tax return and two counts of failing to file a tax return. The government will seek an order to recover the approximately $1.8 million, which Doty will have to repay according to a schedule determined by the court. Additionally, Doty agreed to pay the Internal Revenue Service $577,324 in restitution.

    In the event Doty is unable to pay, the government “may take any and all measures necessary to collect the maximum amount of restitution in the most expeditious manner available,” prosecutors wrote.

    Wire fraud carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years, but prosecutors are arguing for a substantially shorter sentence. Under Doty’s plea agreement, he faces a recommended sentence of between 41 and 51 months.

    Because Doty quickly pleaded guilty, prosecutors recommended that he receive a sentence at “the lower end of the guideline range,” provided he does not commit a new crime or violate the terms of his pretrial release.

    Judge Richard L. Young will sentence Doty during a hearing yet to be scheduled. Federal judges have broad discretion to sentence defendants as they see fit and are not required to follow prosecutors’ recommendations.

    The U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services System conducts pre-sentence investigations to help judges determine appropriate sentences.

    Houston Harwood covers criminal justice issues for the Courier & Press, reporting on the people, policies and cases that shape our legal system. Contact him at [email protected].

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