A Chaves County, New Mexico court recently sentenced a 44-year-old man to 10 years in prison, to be followed by five years of probation.
His wife received a sentence of one year in prison to be followed by five years of probation. The couple pled guilty to multiple charges including racketeering, embezzlement, tax fraud, and conspiracy to commit tax fraud as part of a plea agreement in the case.
The felons must also repay the money they stole from their employer, the Cattle Baron Restaurant, and pay the New Mexico Department of Taxation & Revenue for unpaid taxes on the stolen money. Because the couple has dependent children at home, the judge allowed the husband to begin his prison sentence after his wife completes hers.
Prosecutors say that between 2012 and 2016, the couple diverted more than one million dollars from the Cattle Baron's payroll accounts and placed the money into their personal accounts.
The husband was the office manager and comptroller at Cattle Baron during this time and transmitted, without authorization, $1,110,832.81 in electronic direct deposits from Cattle Baron's Wells Fargo Bank business payroll account into bank accounts controlled by him and his wife. His wife was the payroll coordinator and admitted moving the money into various accounts they owned after her husband made the initial illicit deposit.
Prosecutors say the couple used the money for lavish spending, including new vehicles, vacations, and casino gambling. "Couple sentenced in Cattle Baron embezzlement" www.kob.com (May 26, 2022).