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Woman guilty in embezzlement case Date published: 7/9/2004 By KEITH EPPS A woman who swindled a local home-construction company out of more than $140,000 was ordered this week to serve 30 days in jail. Sandra Payne Mills of Spotsylvania embezzled the money from Atlantic Builders over a 101/2-month period prior to her arrest in October 2002, according to court records. Judge James W. Haley Jr. this week sentenced Mills in Stafford Circuit Court to 35 years in prison with all but 30 days suspended. She was also ordered to make restitution of $141,000. Prosecutor George Elsasser said Mills was a clerk for Atlantic Builders when the company, now based in Spotsylvania, had its offices in Stafford. Among her duties, Elsasser said, was to post the "yard bonds" required by localities before a builder can begin constructing a home on a lot. The bonds, which in this case generally ran between $7,500 and $12,000, are refunded to builders once the project is completed and all county requirements have been satisfied. Elsasser said Mills was supposed to see that the money was returned to the company coffers once it was refunded. But on 13 occasions, he said, Mills diverted the funds into accounts belonging to either her mother or her husband. Elsasser said Mills had a carefully thought-out plan to avoid detection. But a company audit eventually showed that a large amount of money never made it back to the company coffers. A state police investigation led to Mills, who eventually admitted what she had done. She pleaded guilty to seven counts of embezzlement, and a number of other charges were dropped. Defense attorney V. James Ventura represented Mills. He suggested that she was the victim of an abusive husband and was stealing to make him happy. Elsasser said he was "dumbfounded" that Mills got a sentence well below what is called for in the state sentencing guidelines. He said the guidelines call for an active sentence of at least two years. Mills' criminal record includes three felony prescription-fraud convictions in 1992 and a misdemeanor fraud conviction in 1995. To reach KEITH EPPS: 540/374-5404 kepps@freelancestar.com
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