By Daniel L. Bamberg
Daniel@centrevilleprss.com
On April 7th, 2001 a federal judge sentenced Daphne Miller Brooks of Woodstock to serve 2 years in prison. This was the result of a charge, which totaled an embezzlement of $878,481.
Brooks, a former member of the Bibb County Chamber of Commerce and former Councilwoman for the town of Woodstock, pled guilty in December to mail fraud, securities fraud, filing false tax returns, and criminal forfeiture.
In a plea agreement, which was reached between Brooks and the government it, suggests she embezzled money to pay personal credit card bills between October 2001 and March 2008.
Brooks composed an emotional apology to her family, church, community, and the McDonald family. “I would like to say that I am sorry. They were truly good to me. I didn’t take their money because I deserved it or wanted to hurt them,” said Brooks.
Several members of her community including neighbors, church and family members wrote letters of support for Brooks. These letters described her as compassionate and unselfish.
It seems, Brooks began embezzling money from an Equity Development Corporation account while working as a bookkeeper for McDonald Management. Brooks, who has no known prior convictions, had been a citizen many considered upstanding. She was not only a part of the community through civic organizations but was active in her church and in Bibb County’s education system.
According to Brooks’ attorney Derek Drennan, after her husband was diagnosed with a liver disease that eventually proved terminal, she began taking money in various ways. Drennan suggests that Brooks used the money to travel back and forth between home and the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. Her husband was in Jacksonville to receive a liver transplant.
Drennan also explains that after her husband took ill, resulting in disability, he began to gamble. Brooks began traveling with her husband to casinos. As the couple were losing money, Brooks was still trying to provide for her son who was attending Dartmouth.
The judge explained that he weighed the testimony of those who wrote letters on her behalf as well as other aspects. In conclusion, however he expressed that it was hard to ignore the amount she had taken and how long she had been taking it.
Brooks will serve two years in prison based on her agreement with the District Judge. Judge David Proctor suggests that he was sentencing her to far less than the 33-month minimum sentencing guidelines. Proctor also ordered her to pay back everything she stole from Equity Development Corp. while she worked as a bookkeeper. She has also been ordered to pay $948,840 in restitution. Her final court debt is over $1.8 million dollars.
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