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Posted on 04/30/2008 9:06:32 PM PDT by hercuroc
A 56-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to stealing $300,000 from the United States Forest Service using a purchase card program that she helped to develop while she was employed by the agency in Milwaukee.
As part of her plea to one count of theft of government property, Suzanne Poetz, of Milwaukee, acknowledged more than 150 instances of theft, according to Steven M. Biskupic, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
Under the terms of her plea, Poetz will be required to pay back the money stolen as restitution. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000.
She will be sentenced on Sept. 3.
Biskupic said in a released statement that "it is vital that the business of the government be conducted with absolute integrity and be above reproach. Government employees who steal have breached the trust reposed in them by the public and will be vigorously prosecuted by the Department of Justice".
Poetz was employed by the U.S. Forest Service for many years, becoming a regional grants and agreements coordinator for the agency in the late 1990s. After she resigned, the agency's policies and procedures were changed to ensure similar incidents of theft would not occur in the future, Biskipic noted.
Ironically, in 1998, Poetz received an award from Vice President Al Gore for her role in developing the purchase card program, which was cited for making government more efficient.
Authorities said it is the same program she used to commit her crimes in a case that stemmed from an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathon H Koenig prosecuted the case.
Priceless!
Did she use her purchase card program for carbon credits? That might mitigate her ultimate sentence.
After this, she’s got to run for Congress.
“After this, she’s got to run for Congress.”
Yeah, and get Nobel Laureate Gore to come campaign for her.
There are MANY stories recently about our “civil servants” using Government Credit cards for all manner of inappropriate purchases...
In a sane world -— thousands would have been fired.
Hell - in ANY non-governmental job they would have all been fired.
Civil Servants my a$$ — nothing civil at all about the damned thieves.
Very sad situation.
*
Suzanne Poetz stole more than 150 Forest Service purchase card convenience checks from 2000 to 2004, the government said. But in a plea agreement filed last week in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee, Poetz admitted to converting a single $1,200 government check.
The government said she admitted cashing the checks “because she was addicted to gambling,” and that she admitted using her home computer to write fraudulent invoices, according to court records.
When she’s sentenced, Poetz faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, as well as three years of supervised release.
Under the agreement, Poetz must also pay $319,705 in restitution to the Forest Service’s parent agency, the Department of Agriculture.
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