Atascadero woman gets hefty prison sentence for stealing $877,000 from construction company
An Atascadero bookkeeper on Tuesday was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for embezzling more than $877,000 from her employer.
Joy Wilde, 43, will serve 10 years and four months in state prison after pleading no contest to 18 counts of embezzlement, two counts of forgery and one count of attempted embezzlement, a San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office news release said.
A Major Fraud Unit investigation showed Wilde stole $877,123 from Greg Wiemann Construction in Creston, where she was employed as a bookkeeper and office manager, the release said.
The thefts — which occurred over the course of three years — involved passing 64 fraudulent checks and trying to pass three others.
Superior Court Judge Jesse Marino said the long prison sentence was appropriate due to the “outrageously large amount of money” Wilde stole.
“The victim, Greg Wiemann, was present at sentencing and recounted the significant impact of Ms. Wilde’s theft in a letter to the court,” the release said.
Wilde broke her employer’s trust, which was “the most difficult aspect of this case,” for Wiemann, the release said.
“Embezzlement crimes are significant at several levels,” District Attorney Dan Dow said. “In addition to the financial devastation that large-scale thefts can wreak on a business, is the very personal impact realized when a long-term employee in a position of confidence violates that trust. It frequently happens at the hands of someone you have come to know, trust and with whom you have developed a strong relationship. This office takes these cases seriously and will continue to prosecute them aggressively.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 5:30 PM.
