Rebecca Armell Imprisoned For Frauds On Employer

The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Rebecca Armell, 47, of Shelburne, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Burlington to one year and one day of imprisonment following her guilty plea to a charge of credit card fraud.  U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss also ordered that Armell serve three years of supervised release following completion of her prison term and pay restitution totaling $301,000.  The court directed Armell to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on October 13 to begin serving her sentence.  

Last December, the United States Attorney filed a one-count information charging Armell with access device fraud.  According to the information, in 2018, while employed at the Chimney Sweep in Shelburne, Armell misused the company’s Lowe’s credit card to obtain merchandise having a value in excess of $1000.  Armell pleaded guilty to that charge last January.

According to court records, for 20 years prior to December 2018 when she was fired, Armell had worked at the Chimney Sweep – the last ten as a bookkeeper who had check-signing authority.  Beginning around 2016, Armell began stealing from the company.  She wrote checks to petty cash that she cashed and pocketed the proceeds.  She wrote checks to herself that she deposited, falsifying entries in the company’s books to make it appear the checks had been issued to fellow employees.  She also misused the company credit card to benefit herself, and charged personal automobile repairs to the Chimney Sweep account. In the aggregate, the losses total around $301,000. 

The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service upon referral from the Shelburne Police Department.

Armell is represented by Brooks MacArthur.  The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice.  Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150years.