A Tulsa County woman pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to charges related to the embezzlement of more than $2 million from her employer, according to a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Christine F. Fletcher, 61, an office manager and secretary for about 38 years for an unnamed victim and the companies he has owned or controls, admitted to one count of bank fraud and one count of tax evasion during a hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
Specifically, Fletcher admitted to making unauthorized transfers of cash between bank accounts controlled by her employer before misappropriating funds for her own benefit.
As part of her plea, Fletcher agreed to pay restitution totaling $2,188,870 to her former employer. Fletcher agreed to pay at least $20,700 of the restitution on her sentencing date.
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She also agreed to pay $62,067 in restitution to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in unpaid federal income tax on unreported income totaling $289,810 in 2020.
Asked by a judge to describe her actions, Fletcher said she transferred funds and “wrote checks to myself” and to pay her credit card balances.
In addition to paying cash restitution, she agreed to forfeit residential property in Bixby valued by the Tulsa County Assessor’s Office at $575,666. Net proceeds from the sale of the property will be credited toward the overall forfeiture money judgment, according to the plea agreement.
U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson charged Fletcher on Feb. 1. The charges alleged that Fletcher embezzled from her employer from at least December 2012 to May 2021, when she was fired. She took the funds “so that she might pay for a lifestyle that cost more than her legitimate income could afford,” according to the charging information.
In her plea, Fletcher said one of the means she used to carry out her fraud was to make unauthorized transfers of company funds to a bank account in the name of the victim’s wife, who died in 2016. Fletcher would then write checks to either the dead woman or herself using the woman’s forged signature, according to the charging document.
Bank fraud carries a statutory maximum prison term of 30 years, while the maximum prison term for tax evasion is five years.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend that Fletcher be sentenced within a lower sentencing range due to her acceptance of responsibility when she is sentenced later.
On this episode of the Across the Sky podcast, the Lee Weather sat sown with the Director of the US National Phenology Network Theresa Crimmins to talk about the status of Spring. About the Across the Sky podcast. The weekly weather podcast is hosted on a rotation by the Lee Weather team: Matt Holiner of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago, Kirsten Lang of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma, Joe Martucci of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., and Sean Sublette of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia.
What you missed this week in notable Tulsa crimes and court cases
This week's local crime and court updates from Tulsa World.
When police arrived at the camp, near Guts Church, a man reportedly tried to flee on foot but was found with drugs. "If marijuana laced with fentanyl is a new trend, it is particularly dangerous," police said.
Leaders of the tribes asked “outsiders” to get out of the way if they cannot “get on board” with their own criminal justice efforts involving tribal members on tribal land.
After obtaining a warrant based on the suspect's previous controlled dangerous substances conviction, police found 23 pounds of methamphetamine, 1 pound of cocaine, 6 pounds of fentanyl, two firearms and $30,000 in cash in an east Tulsa residence.
Joshua Taft reportedly pulled a gun on an officer who responded to a call for help from Taft's girlfriend outside the Spirit 76 Tavern near 31st Street and 129th East Avenue.
After a vehicle chase by Mayes County deputies, the driver being pursued was found dead with a gunshot wound to his right temple.
A Tulsa man was arrested Saturday afternoon after the car he was driving hit and killed a pedestrian on a sidewalk before he drove away, the Tulsa Police Department alleges.
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The man who called 911 was taken into custody after police found a woman dead at a home near 41st Street and 135th East Avenue.
Tulsa police shot and killed a burglary suspect they say first fired at officers with a sawed-off shotgun at a vacant house near Third Street and Delaware Avenue.
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Emmitt Graywolf Sam was 17 at the time of the crimes and was charged, along with another teen boy, in a string of carjackings before the fatal shooting.
Phillip Albert, the former president of Pelco Structural LLC, admitted to not paying an estimated $1 million in federal taxes. The penalty could be up to five years in prison.
Dakota Chase Buzzard, 21, admitted to one count of firearms conspiracy Friday in Tulsa federal court related to the slaying of Jerry Tapp.
Curtis Killman
Staff Writer
I'm a member of the Projects Team with an emphasis on database analysis. I also cover federal court news, maintain the Tulsa World database page and develop online interactive graphics. Phone: 918-581-8471
