Ex-bookkeeper gets 10 years - Jackson Clarion Ledger
The 59-year-old Satartia woman's criminal action landed her a 10-year prison sentence.
"I believe this is the largest embezzlement case I have had in 12 years on the bench," senior Circuit Judge Swan Yerger said before sentencing Belk to the maximum. "She didn't take a little; she took a lot. ... She was able to go out and have fun with someone else's money."
After her sentence, Belk flopped to the floor outside the courtroom in the Hinds County Detention Center, crying uncontrollably in a corner. Relatives tried to comfort the hysterical woman.
Her attorney had said before sentencing that murderers get less time.
But the prosecutor said Belk got a break being charged with only one count of embezzlement.
And her former boss said she deserved the maximum. Her actions, he said, not only betrayed his trust but also reduced the money that would have gone into his employees' 401(k) retirement plan.
Belk pleaded guilty in October to stealing more than $921,000 from Weight Watchers Inc. over six years, beginning in 2000. Insurance reimbursed the business $220,000. Also, $26,000 Belk has in a 401(k) retirement plan will go toward repaying the stolen money.
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