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LAWRENCE WOMAN GETS 2+ YEARS FOR $306,000 FRAUD

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Sandra Diane Jeffress, 52, Lawrence, was sentenced Monday to 27 months in federal prison for bank fraud.

“Ms. Jeffress pleaded guilty to stealing more than $306,000 from the business in Lawrence where she worked,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren.

Jeffress was sentenced Monday during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Kathryn H. Vratil in Kansas City, Kan. Jeffress entered a guilty plea in December to one count of bank fraud.

According to court documents, from 1998 to October 2004 Jeffress was working for Jayhawk Bowling Supply in Lawrence when the crimes occurred. Her duties included handling payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable. She had authority to sign checks issued by Jayhawk Bowling Supply and she had access to the company’s books and ledgers.

To execute the scheme, Jeffress issued and signed unauthorized checks made payable to herself from Jayhawk Bowling Supply. She endorsed the checks and converted the funds to her own use. When monthly bank statements arrived, she took out the cancelled checks that she had written without proper authority and tore them up. She also made entries in the companies ledgers to conceal the theft of the funds.

Melgren commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which prepared the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Christensen, who prosecuted the case.