A former employee of a local credit union who pled guilty to embezzlement in late September has been sentenced in federal court.
Latisha
Cochran, 36, of Cookeville, was sentenced to serve 27 months in a minimum
security facility in the case.
“She
publicly apologized and said she is sorry she affected people the way she did,”
her attorney, Wesley Bray, said. “She took responsibility for her actions.”
Cochran was
charged with embezzlement in late July and pled guilty in September, admitting
in court that she issued fradulent loans in the names of fictitious individuals
while employed at Middle Tennessee Federal Credit Union. She admitted she used
the funds from the fradulent loans for her own personal use and also used
fradulent credit cards associated with the loans to make personal purchases.
She also
admitted to taking actions to hide her embezzlement, including opening accounts
in fictitious names, using ficticious addresses, fabricating loan
documentation, conducting transactions outside of normal business hours, making
loan payments using embezzled funds and shredding loan files.
She
admitted to embezzling more than $370,000.
“She made a
payment today in that restitution,” Bray said, with the total restitution being
$300,000. “Her cooperation and lack of a criminal record also helped in her
sentencing.”
She faced
up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.
She is to
serve 80 percent of her sentence.
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