HUNTSVILLE – U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith on Thursday sentenced a former Regions Bank branch manager to 21 months in prison for embezzling more than $128,000 from two of the bank’s customers, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Roy D. Sexton.

BRENDA KAY SMITH, 36, of Lincoln, also must pay Regions Bank more than $128,000 in restitution and remain on supervised release for five years after completing her prison sentence, the judge ordered.

“White collar crime doesn’t pay in the Northern District of Alabama,” Vance said. “The public should be able to trust the financial system, and that often begins with the relationship community members have with the employees of their local banks. This sentence signals that financial fraud will be subject to tough sentencing,” she said.
Smith was manager of the Lincoln Branch of Regions Bank before leaving the bank in 2010. She embezzled money from the two customers’ accounts between 2008 and 2010. She pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement in March.

The case was investigated by the Secret Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Davis Barlow.

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