Kimberly Brooks Imprisoned For Embezzlement From Orleans Employer

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Kimberley Brooks, 48, of Brownington, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Burlington to 18 months of imprisonment following her guilty plea to charges that she embezzled more than $157,000 from her employer. U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III also ordered that Brooks serve a three-year term of supervised release after she gets out of prison, and that she pay restitution of about $163,000. The court directed Brooks to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on October 8 to begin serving her sentence.

On October 18, 2012, a federal grand jury in Burlington returned a three-count indictment charging Brooks with wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen money and forging checks of her former employer. According to the indictment, Brooks was employed as a bookkeeper for Desmarais Equipment, Inc., a farm equipment and recreational vehicle distributor in Orleans. The indictment alleges that, between September 2008 and March 2011, Brooks embezzled about $157,000 from the company, primarily by stealing cash from funds being deposited into the bank and altering deposit slips in an attempt to cover up the theft. It also accuses Brooks of causing several company checks to be issued to herself or others without authorization, then depositing the checks into her own personal account. According to court records, the embezzlement was detected in May 2011 and Brooks was promptly fired. Brooks pled guilty to the stolen property charge last April.

This case was investigated by the Vermont State Police and the U.S. Secret Service.

Brooks is represented by David Sleigh. The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.