A former Westmoreland County woman was sentenced to 30 months in a federal prison for embezzling $169,000 from two companies where she worked.
Jennifer Lynne Clark, 42, was ordered last week to spend three years on supervised release after the prison term. Clark also is known as Jennifer Gill and lives in Pinellas Park, Fla. She previously lived in Mt. Pleasant, prosecutors said.
She pleaded guilty in February 2020 to wire fraud, mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman.
Clark was indicted three years ago after federal authorities said she took money from two businesses. She created unauthorized Square accounts supposedly related to vendors of Elite Oil and and fraudulently processed multiple transactions with her company credit card between 2015 and 2016, totaling $143,000. Prosecutors said she used some of the money to buy a car. It was unclear from court papers where Elite Oil’s office was.
Clark was working as office manager at Wright Traffic Control of Beaver when, authorities said, she put a “ghost employee” on the payroll and collected the paychecks. Prosecutors said she got $26,000.
“With each employer, she used her position to manipulate records and payment systems to enrich herself at the expense of her employer,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “The conduct was not isolated but demonstrated a persistent pattern of multiple separate acts and forged payroll checks calculated to steal from her employer while on the job.”
Her defense attorney discussed Clark’s difficult childhood in a sentencing memorandum, as well as remorse for the crimes.
“Jennifer has rightfully experienced punishment and lifelong consequences as the result of her serious wrongdoing,” assistant federal public defender Sarah Levin wrote in the memorandum. “Now, she must do the work of rebuilding her family relationships and paying back restitution owed to her victims.”
Clark was ordered to pay $26,000 in restitution to Wright Traffic Control, $49,000 to Square and $94,000 to First National Bank, which was related to the Elite Oil theft. She was permitted to remain free on bond and could surrender by January to begin serving the sentence.
