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A 42-year-old Salt Lake City woman who pleaded guilty in March to filing a false tax return, will serve 24 months in federal prison, a federal court judge ordered on Monday.
Stephanie Jarvi-Peterson admitted as part of a plea deal that from around June 2007 through December 2013, she embezzled more than $572,000 from her employer, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS).
Jarvi-Peterson, who was employed as an accounting clerk, admitted writing checks on UAMPS' bank account payable to petty cash and forging the authorization signature on the checks, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. She would then either deposit the check into her personal bank account or cash the check.
She admitted altering UAMPS' accounting records to falsely reflect that the expenditures were associated with payments to vendors.
U.S. District Court Judge David Nuffer ordered Jarvi-Peterson to pay $572,303.11 in restitution.
During 2011, Jarvi-Peterson stole about $192,847.52 and used that money as personal income, according to the plea agreement. She failed to report this additional income to the IRS knowing her failure to do so was illegal according to the press release. The total amount of tax loss during the entire period she embezzled money from UAMPS is $146,670.
"The role of IRS Criminal Investigation becomes even more important in embezzlement and fraud cases due to the complex financial transactions that can take time to unravel," said John G. Collins, Special Agent in Charge, Las Vegas Field Office. "Federal tax laws are normally violated in these cases and, as Monday's sentence shows, the consequences are not worth it."
Jarvi-Peterson will self-surrender to begin serving her federal prison sentence by Aug. 21, 2015.
No fine was imposed in the case.