Baton Rouge Bookkeeper Sentenced to Federal Prison for Defrauding Baton Rouge Construction Company

United States Attorney Brandon J. Fremin announced that U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson sentenced DIANNA CARRINGTON, a.k.a. Deanna Collier, Dianna Collier, and Dee Blackburn, age 41, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to 22 months in federal prison following her conviction for wire fraud.  The Court further sentenced CARRINGTON to two years of supervised release following her term of imprisonment and ordered $235,869.52 in restitution to J.W. Grand Construction, Inc. (“J.W. Grand”).

In connection with her guilty plea, CARRINGTON, a former bookkeeper and office manager for J.W. Grand admitted to fraudulently diverting at least $235,869.52 from J.W. Grand’s business accounts to her personal checking and credit card account for her own personal use.  For example, CARRINGTON admitted to issuing a payment to a hardware and cabinets distributor located in Prairieville, Louisiana, which she falsely represented to be a payment for finish hardware that she, in fact, had not provided and for which said distributor had not submitted an invoice.  In fact, CARRINGTON diverted the fraudulent $13,187.48 payment to her personal credit card account.

U.S. Attorney Fremin stated, “Internal theft at any business is a serious problem that threatens the economic security of honest employees and business owners. We take seriously the threat this poses to our business community and the economic impact it has on hardworking families. It took hard work on the part of our prosecutors and the Secret Service to bring this fraudster to justice and I am very proud of their efforts.” 

Tara McLeese, Resident Agent in Charge of the Secret Service Office in Baton Rouge stated, “The U.S. Secret Service plays a pivotal role in securing the nation’s critical financial infrastructure. Today’s sentencing is one of many examples of the high priority our office places on protecting the financial security of businesses in our community.”

This matter is being investigated by the Baton Rouge Office of the U.S. Secret Service, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Demetrius Sumner.