BIRMINGHAM -- A federal judge today sentenced the former financial officer for two non-profit health clinics in Alabama to more than two years in prison for mailing narcotics to a co-defendant and the spouse of a federal prosecutor on a separate fraud case, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, U.S. Postal Inspector R. Frank Dyer and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.

            Federal prosecutors recommended a 12-month sentence for TERRI McGUIRE MOLLICA on one count of using the U.S. mail to distribute a controlled substance. Mollica, 48, of Birmingham, pleaded guilty to the charge in July. U.S. District Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced Mollica to 28 months in prison, calling her crime "extremely reprehensible."

            Mollica had an elaborate scheme to use an out-of-state re-mailing service to send the narcotics without being identified as the sender.

            "This sentence from the court sends a strong message that defendants who try to obstruct the prosecution of their own criminal conduct by harassing and threatening prosecutors will face additional time in prison," Vance said.

            Mollica pleaded guilty April 27 to a complicated scheme to defraud the government through the two non-profit health clinics where she worked as chief financial officer. She is scheduled for sentencing in that case on Nov. 18. According to court documents, Mollica engaged in more than 200 transactions to enrich herself using a variety of bank accounts and trading accounts, illegally receiving about $1.7 million and laundering about $214,333.

            On April 17 and April 21, Mollica mailed the packages that, ultimately, were delivered to the spouse of a prosecutor on her fraud case, and to her co-defendant in that case, who already had pleaded guilty to defrauding the government and a health clinic. The package to Mollica's co-defendant contained a statue of a dog, 76 Valium, 38 Zolpidem (Ambien) and about 100 other pills. The package to the prosecutor's spouse contained a desk clock, 49 Adderall, 41 Ritalin and two prepaid debit cards.

            The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and FBI investigated the illegal use of the mail case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys John B. Felton, Melissa Atwood and Ramona Albin prosecuted.