By HEATHER WALTERS
A Colleton County woman who stole more than $200,000 from her employer has been sent to prison.
Gini Lee Tucker, 40, of Islandton, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, May 25th, to Breach of Trust Greater Than $10,000. She has been sentenced to three years in prison, followed by five years of probation. She was also ordered to repay $202,781 in restitution that she stole from her employer – Cowboy, LLC, in Walterboro.
According to information provided by Erinn McGuire, spokeswoman for the Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office, Tucker stole the cash from her employer, Cowboy, LLC, while working for them as a financial officer. Cowboy, LLC is a regional trucking company based out of Walterboro.
“She was using the company’s bank accounts for her own personal use,” said Assistant Solicitor Francine Norz, who prosecuted the case. Norz is a member of the Special Victims Unit with the Solicitor’s Office, which is the chief prosecuting agency for Colleton County. She also prosecutes financial and fraud cases for the solicitor’s office.
“She was entrusted to manage this family-owned business’s financial accounts and abused that trust, which negatively impacted its owners and employees,” Norz said about Tucker.
According to Weeks, Tucker’s theft was discovered by her employers when they noticed unauthorized Amazon purchases. This discovery led to a financial audit, which uncovered Tucker’s swindling.
“The audit revealed Tucker had been making withdrawals from company’s various accounts to pay for personal expenses, to include an all-terrain vehicle,” McGuire said, in a release.
Circuit Court Judge Carmen Mullen sentenced Tucker to her prison term during General Sessions Court at the Beaufort County Courthouse.
