A Republic woman was sentenced in federal court Feb. 17 for embezzling more than $717,000 from the Mercy College of Nursing and Health Sciences, which formerly used the St. John's name, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Amy Elaine Phillips, 39, was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Richard E. Dorr to 30 months in federal prison without the possibility for parole. She also was ordered to pay $717,999 in restitution to Mercy and $115,117 plus interest to the Internal Revenue Service.
Phillips was employed Jan. 15, 2001-Feb. 26, 2009, as an administrative assistant for the College of Nursing, which is jointly run with Southwest Baptist University. She was responsible for facility upkeep, staff payroll, budgetary issues and general administrative duties for the dean and program director of the college.
In October, she
pleaded guilty to theft of program funds and tax evasion.
In her guilty plea, Phillips admitted she used two forms of embezzlement to steal funds from Mercy and the College of Nursing.
Between 2004 and 2007, Phillips used checks intended for Mercy and the college for personal gain. By depositing the checks into her personal bank account, she stole nearly $61,000 until 2007, when her bank informed her she would need to be listed as the payee for checks deposited into her account, the release said.
From 2007-09, Phillips stole from the Mercy Employees' Credit Union Student Nurses Association bank account, a private savings account owned and funded by College of Nursing students. Under the scheme, Phillips deposited checks made payable to Mercy and the College of Nursing to the Student Nurses Association bank account, and, on the same day, would withdraw the funds to use them for personal benefits. More than $657,000 was taken by this form of embezzlement, according to the release.
By also pleading guilty to tax evasion, Phillips admitted she didn't claim the embezzled funds as taxable income on her federal tax returns 2004-08. Phillips pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion related to her 2008 income tax; she claimed $26,759 in taxable income, but actually had roughly $210,064 in income as a result of the embezzling schemes. During a course of five years, Phillips should have paid an additional $115,117 in income taxes on the unreported theft income to the IRS, the release said.
The case was prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich and was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Secret Service and the Springfield Police Department.
According to the release, Mercy has reimbursed Southwest Baptist University for all funds embezzled by Phillips from university activities and functions.[[In-content Ad]]