Local News in Brief : Ex-Customs Official Guilty of Embezzling
A former U.S. Customs supervisor was convicted Wednesday of embezzling nearly $840,000 in duties paid by arriving passengers at Los Angeles International Airport and spending the money on clothes and trips for herself and friends.
Betty J. Jones, 38, of Los Angeles committed the largest theft ever of import duties in Southern California. She was convicted of 21 counts of embezzling money from the United States and one count of filing a false income tax return after a two-day non-jury trial.
U.S. District Judge Robert Kelleher was scheduled to sentence Jones on May 15. She faces a maximum of 213 years in prison, a $500,000 fine and restitution, Assistant U.S. Atty. Maurice Leiter said.
During the trial, Jones’ friends testified that she flew them on jaunts to Las Vegas and San Francisco and bought them clothes and jewelry.
Jones was responsible for collecting cash and checks from an airport vault, verifying cashiers’ accounting records and having the money deposited into a Customs bank account.
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