Longville woman pleads guilty to stealing more than $265,000 from employer and lying about it on tax returns

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that a Longville woman pleaded guilty on January 24, 2019 to stealing more than $265,000 from her employer and failing to report the income on her tax returns.

Ashleigh Matte, 37, of Longville, Louisiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert R. Summerhays to two counts of filing false tax returns.  According to the guilty plea, Matte was the officer manager for Gene Kile, Inc. (“GKI”), in Westlake, Louisiana.  From 2014 to 2016, she stole money from GKI by writing checks to herself using company checks and depositing them into various accounts owned by her.  Over the three-year period, Matte stole $265,418.72, and hid the theft by making false accounting entries in GKI’s records.  On Matte’s 2015 and 2016 tax filing documents, she failed to report this income, which caused a loss to the U.S. Treasury of $56,500.38.

Matte faces up to six years in prison, one year of supervised release, a $200,000 fine and restitution to GKI and the IRS.  The court set sentencing for May 24, 2019.

The IRS investigated the case. United States Attorney David C. Joseph is prosecuting the case.