A bookkeeper at a Bethesda architecture firm was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt to 30 months in prison for pilfering more than $414,000 from the firm.
Amy Ranee Powell, 41, of Huntingtown, previously pleaded guilty to taking the money by writing 82 unauthorized checks to herself ranging from $500 to $8,000 from 2010 to 2013, federal prosecutors said. Prosecutors did not name the firm in the announcement of the verdict Wednesday.
Prosecutors said Powell spent $18,070 on Washington Redskins tickets, $17,157 on wedding expenses, $2,900 at a florist and another $2,900 at an electronics store. She also spent thousands of dollars of the stolen money on vacations and expensive meals.
Powell routinely wrote checks for the company to pay its bills and the firm’s owner frequently signed blank checks to enable her to do so. Because of this, she was able to hide the scheme for several years until company officials discovered the missing funds, prosecutors said.
Powell has been ordered to pay restitution and was also sentenced to three years of probation after she’s released from jail.
