WASHINGTON - Marc England, 44, pled guilty today to a federal charge stemming from his theft of over $960,000 from a Washington, D.C. law firm, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. and Andrew G. McCabe, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

     England, of Covington, La., pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of wire fraud.  The Honorable Judge Tanya S. Chutkan scheduled sentencing for Dec. 2, 2014. Under federal sentencing guidelines, England faces a likely range of 33 to 41 months of incarceration, as well as a fine of up to $75,000.  The government maintains that the victim’s losses total at least $961,404.  Under the plea agreement, England also must pay restitution to the victim. England is subject to an additional forfeiture money judgment.

     According to the government’s evidence, England worked at a firm identified in court documents as “Company A,” a small law firm in Washington, D.C., as the company’s controller.  Beginning in August 2008, England began sending wire payments from the law firm’s bank account directly to various credit card accounts that he himself held. For some of the unauthorized transactions, England used the firm’s electronic accounts system to create fraudulent invoices appearing on their face to justify his unauthorized debits.  Over the course of a four-year period, England caused the firm to execute 126 separate interstate wire transfers of monies from the firm’s checking account to various accounts held by England.

     In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Machen and Assistant Director in Charge McCabe commended the work of those who investigated the case from the FBI’s Washington Field Office. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Donna Galindo, Corinne Kleinman, and Angela Lawrence; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Catherine K. Connelly and Arvind K. Lal, who handled forfeiture issues, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard DiZinno, who investigated and prosecuted the matter.