Former Employee Sentenced to Federal Prison for Embezzling

A woman who embezzled from her employer for more than five years was sentenced today to more than two years in federal prison.

Teresa Meeks, age 60, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a December 22, 2015, guilty plea to one count of wire fraud. 

In a plea agreement, Meeks admitted that, while employed as an accountant for Primus Construction, Inc. in Cedar Rapids, she embezzled more than $350,000 from the company and related companies over a five year period.  Meeks wrote checks to herself from company bank accounts and then covered up those checks by altering the company’s books to make the checks appear to have been used to pay legitimate business expenses or voided.  In total, Meeks stole $377,610.36 in this way from September 2009 through October 2014, when  her embezzlement was discovered. 

Meeks was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.  Meeks was sentenced to 33 months’ imprisonment.  A special assessment of $100 was imposed, and she was ordered to make $379,980.88 in restitution to Primus Construction, Inc.  She must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Meeks is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 15-CR-98-LRR.

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