WASHINGTON – Jill Murray, a former office manager and bookkeeper for a Washington-based architecture firm, was sentenced today to six months in prison on a federal charge involving the embezzlement of nearly $280,000 from her employer, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.
Murray, 50, of North Charleston, S.C., pled guilty in November 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to one count of wire fraud. She was sentenced by the Honorable Randolph D. Moss. Upon completion of her prison term, she will be placed on three years of supervised release. She also was ordered to pay $279,611 in restitution and an identical amount in a forfeiture money judgment.
According to the government’s evidence, Murray was authorized to make supply purchases for the architecture firm’s business operations and was responsible for maintaining bookkeeping records for all expenses that were paid out to vendors and contractors. Murray was also authorized to pay her employer’s credit card bills.
Between December 2005 and March 2014, Murray made approximately $112,630 in unauthorized personal purchases of items from retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, Staples, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, Whole Foods, Office Depot, Crate & Barrel, and the District of Columbia Parking Enforcement Agency. From about January 2007, through about March 2014, Murray, using the company’s credit cards, purchased gift cards in her own name from Staples in the amount of $83,511 and from Office Depot in the amount of $83,469. Murray was able to conceal her theft scheme by manipulating the architecture firm’s books.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Financial Crimes Unit. He also expressed appreciation for the efforts of those who worked on the matter for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Swanton, who handled forfeiture issues, Paralegal Specialists Krishawn Graham and Angela Lawrence, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mervin A. Bourne, Jr., who prosecuted the case.