Wednesday, September 04, 2019

Lanagan bank employee who embezzled $94,000 and went on gambling spree sentenced to one year, 1 day in prison

A federal judge sentenced a Lanagan woman today to one year and one day in prison for embezzling $94,176 from the Cornerstone Bank of Lanagan September 6, 2018.

Candice M. King, 49, admitted she stole he money from the bank's vault and automatic teller machine and over the next several days spent more than $46,000 of it on prepaid credit cards and personal expenditures, including food, gas, and gambling. She also spent money at a Shreveport, Louisiana hair salon in order to change her looks, according to her plea agreement.

King could have been sentenced to as much as 30 years in prison, but under federal sentencing guidelines because of her cooperation and lack of criminal history, the U. S. Attorney's office recommended 15 months.

King's background was explained in a sentencing memorandum filed August 28 in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri:







The defendant is a 49-year-old female who has a criminal history score of zero and a criminal history category of “I." This criminal history includes one reference to prior criminal activity – a conviction for passing a bad check in the state of Missouri from 2008. The defendant received a term of probation for that offense. 

The defendant reported a “normal upbringing in which her needs were met,” though she expressed strained relationships with certain immediate family members, which led to her eventual emancipation from her parents at the age of 16. 

She reported that she was currently healthy; however, she has overcome several significant health issues in her past. The defendant stated that she has no history of mental or emotional health issues, despite having suicidal thoughts last fall. 

She also said that she was a daily smoker of marijuana until February 2019, apparently ceasing just before entering her guilty plea to the instant offense. 

The defendant also reported that she has a long-term gambling problem, which is evident from the manner in which she spent the stolen bank money. Indeed, the defendant gambled again in January 2019, after she had been caught committing the instant offense. 

The defendant is currently in romantic relationship while she is in the process of obtaining a divorce from her current husband. She has two children from her first marriage, which ended in divorce in 1991. The defendant graduated from high school in 1987 and attended various college courses in the early 1990s and the mid-2000s. 

She reported consistent employment from 2001 to 2011 and then in her employment with the victim bank from 2016 to the time she was fired after committing the instant offense. (

The defendant stated that she is currently employed by a resale clothing store, where she works 24 to 32 hours per week, and by a restaurant.In making its recommendation, the Government has weighed the facts of the defendant’s offense with some of the mitigating factors of the defendant’s characteristics and history, including her lack of criminal convictions, her cooperation during the investigation of this crime, and her prompt acceptance of responsibility. 

The Government believes that its recommendation reflects the appropriate balance between any possible mitigating factors and the nature of her current conduct. 

The Guidelines range in this case is 12 months to 18 months. The Government respectfully asserts that a mid-range Guidelines sentence of 15 months for her conviction of embezzlement by a bank employee is appropriate given the nature and circumstances of this case.


vault and automatic teller machine September 8 and planned to go to Mex

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