|
A former employee of author Mark
Twain's historic Connecticut home who admitted to embezzling
more than $1 million from it in a long-running scheme was sentenced
on Monday to 3-1/2 years in prison and ordered to pay restitution
of and taxes on the stolen funds.
Judge Warren Eginton of US District Court in Bridgeport,
Connecticut, sentenced Donna Gregor, 58, of East Hartford
to 42 months in prison and three years of supervised release
for the theft, David Fein, US Attorney for Connecticut, said
in a statement.
According to court documents and in-court statements, Gregor
used two different methods to embezzle $1,080,811 from Hartford's
Mark Twain House between 2002 and 2010, and used the proceeds
for theater tickets, dining out, mortgage payments, home improvements
and credit card and car payments, Fein said.
Gregor, a long-time employee of the prolific American writer's
former home and museum, admitted in August to fudging the
accounting to steal from the financially troubled business.
She pleaded guilty to one count each of wire fraud and filing
a false tax return.
Eginton ordered her to repay the Mark Twain House and the
insurance company that has paid out $500,000 on the loss.
She also failed to pay federal taxes and was ordered to pay
the Internal Revenue Service $322,970 on the stolen funds.
Gregor had faced a maximum term of 23 years and a fine of
up to $2 million.
Twain, born Samuel Clemens in Florida, Missouri, had money
troubles himself while living in the home from 1874 to 1891
-- a period in which he wrote such American classics as "The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn."
Twain ultimately had to leave the Victorian Gothic home for
lecture tours of Europe because of financial troubles.
Authorities say Gregor submitted false information over the
Internet to the museum's payroll vendor between 2002 and 2010,
with the misinformation leading to additional money being
deposited to her bank account, classified as payroll advances.
She adjusted ledgers to cover up the advances by reclassifying
the amounts as utilities, maintenance and similar items, and
she falsified the museum's bank statements to hide the advances,
authorities said.
Gregor allegedly also used Mark Twain House's check-writing
system to write checks payable to herself and forged her supervisor's
signatures on those checks.
The theft was discovered by a bank employee who questioned
the signatures on the checks, according to a board member
of the historic home.
|
