Deborah Williamson Pleads Not Guilty To Embezzling From Grocery Employer

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Deborah Williamson, 36, a former resident of Wheelock who now lives in Florida, pleaded not guilty yesterday in United States District Court in Burlington to a charge that she embezzled about $70,000 from her ex-employer.  U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy released Williamson on conditions pending trial, which has not been scheduled.

On March 20, 2014, a federal grand jury in Burlington returned a one-count indictment accusing Williamson of mail fraud.  According to the indictment, Williamson was employed as the manager of White Market, a grocery store in Lyndonville.  Her duties included regularly cashing checks drawn against the company's local bank account to obtain one dollar bills and coins for the cashier's cash registers.  The indictment alleges that between 2010 and 2012, Williamson stole nearly $70,000 in cash from the store's safe.  She allegedly tried to cover up these thefts by not recording, or underreporting, the amount of cash and coins received from the bank in the store's computerized accounting system.

The United States Attorney emphasizes that the charge in the indictment is merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until she is proven guilty.

If convicted, Williamson faces up to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.  The actual sentence would be determined with reference to federal sentencing guidelines.

This case was investigated by the Lyndonville Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Williamson is represented by Brooks McArthur.  The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.