Chatsworth woman gets three years in prison

Published 10:45 pm Thursday, May 27, 2010

Expressing her regret, a Chatsworth woman told a federal judge that she hurt herself, her family and an employer who placed significant trust in her by embezzling more than $1 million over a six-year period of time.

“It was done out of desperation, not for personal gain,” Carolyn Lynn Cherry said at her sentencing Thursday. “I have no explanation why I did what I did.”

Prosecutors said from May 2003 to August 2009, Cherry forged her supervisor’s signature on company checks, using the ill-gotten funds to pay personal credit card bills racked up by expensive trips and lavish spending excursions.

By adjusting the books and creating fictional payees, prosecutors said earlier, Cherry began creating a significant pool of money to pay off costly bills.

Trips to Disney resorts, New York, Las Vegas and numerous shopping excursions during that period of time were paid for with embezzled funds.

Because she was the sole accountant for a Dalton-based insurance company, it took six years for the company to realize what was happening.

Cherry spoke of working exhausting hours as the company’s accountant, especially after the death of one of her children.

“I should have taken a break,” she said. “I’m sorry for what I did.”

She pleaded guilty in March to one count of mail fraud as a part of a plea deal with prosecutors; other charges against her were dropped as part of that deal.

Judge Robert L. Vining Jr. sentenced Cherry to three years in prison along with three years of supervised release. He stated the sentence was an appropriate reflection of the crime, which he described as “systematic in its violation.”

She was also ordered to pay approximately $1.4 million in restitution.

Cherry’s attorney, Brian McWhorter, told the court his client went through a troubling period in her life, including the death of one of her children.

Up to this point she had no run-ins with the law, he said, and once caught, she immediately provided authorities with the details of her crime.

“This is a woman in her 60s and has no criminal record at all,” he told the court. “She deeply regrets this happening.”