FARGO (KFGO) – A West Fargo woman has been sentenced after entering an Alford plea for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her Fargo employer.
Mary Peterson admitted there would be enough evidence to convict her of embezzling nearly $830,000 from Lunde Auto if the case went to trial.
Court records say Peterson took the money over a seven year period beginning in 2015 while she was in charge of making cash deposits for the business. The company’s accounting firm discovered a large amount of money was missing from a bank account, and an accountant suspected Peterson of taking it.
A separate accounting firm investigated and found Peterson altered copies of bank statements to cover up the theft. Investigators say Peterson told them she took the money little by little and used it for gambling and daily expenses.
Peterson was sentenced to 20 years in prison. She will serve 90 days in jail with credit for time served and the rest of the sentence is suspended. She is also ordered to pay restitution.
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