Chelsea Sunn Sentenced for Defrauding Former Employer

Burlington, Vermont – The United States Attorney’s Office stated that Chelsea Sunn, 32, of Hartford, Vermont, was sentenced yesterday in United States District Court in Burlington to two years of probation following Sunn’s guilty plea to a charge of wire fraud. U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III ordered that Sunn pay restitution in the amount of $75,000.

On July 7, 2023, the United States Attorney filed a one-count information charging Sunn with wire fraud. Sunn pleaded guilty to that information in August 2023. According to the information, beginning in 2016 and continuing until April 2020, Sunn, who was then known as Chelsea Roy, was employed by Blakeman’s Towing and Recovery, a vehicle towing and roadside assistance business in Tunbridge. Sunn was hired as a full-time office worker but later converted to part-time employment. Sunn was compensated on an hourly basis that included time and a half pay for claimed overtime work. Among other duties, Sunn handled Blakeman’s billing and payroll.

According to the information, beginning no later than December 2018 and continuing at least until March 2020, Sunn defrauded Blakeman’s Towing and Recovery by falsely inflating the hours she reportedly worked. This caused Blakeman’s to pay Sunn tens of thousands of dollars beyond her authorized compensation. 

In the course of defrauding Blakeman’s Towing and Recovery, Sunn used the interstate wire communication system to report her fraudulently-inflated work hours, and caused Blakeman’s to make electronic direct deposits of fraudulently-obtained funds into Sunn’s bank account in Vermont.

United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the investigatory efforts of  the United States Secret Service.

The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples. Sunn is represented by David Kirby, Esq.