FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) — A former accounting specialist for Benton County was sentenced to 34 months in federal prison Thursday (Sept. 14) on one count each of theft concerning programs that receive funds and one count of filing a false income tax return, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Arkansas said in a press release.
Connie Guild, 52, pleaded guilty on April 13 to embezzling more than $1 million in public funds over a 10-year period, according to federal prosecutors.
Guild, who was fired last fall, stole $1,033,762.20 from Benton County, according to court documents.
In 2007, Guild was put in charge of the county’s travel fund. Over the next decade, she began submitting false claims for the fund to the county treasurer, who would then write Guild a check to cover the inflated expenses, according to court documents.
Guild then cashed the checks and deposited the excess funds into her personal bank account, according to the press release.
Guild will be sentenced at a later date and faces up to 13 years in prison and fines of $350,000. Guild also agreed to repay the money she stole, according to court documents.
