Panhandle sisters sentenced to years in federal prison for embezzling nearly $1M from Pensacola business

Two Panhandle sisters were sentenced to a combined 54 months in federal prison following convictions in an embezzlement scheme.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida announced Kimberly Lovitt, 52, of Pace, and Amy Williams, 46, of Milton, were found guilty of multiple charges relating to filing bogus tax returns and other offenses. Lovitt was sentenced to 36 months behind bars and Williams was ordered to spend 18 months after they were both convicted on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and filing false tax returns connected to embezzlement of funds from their employer for about half a decade.

“Abuse of trust, embezzlement, and tax evasion warrant significant criminal consequences” said Michelle Spaven, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. “The defendants’ years-long theft from their employer and the extreme efforts to conceal their criminal proceeds are both illegal and offensive to all hardworking Americans, especially those who own and operate local businesses. It is fitting and proper that they are not only incarcerated, but that they pay restitution and unpaid taxes for their criminal conduct.”

Federal investigators say the sisters began the scheme in early 2016. That’s when the pair began to set up an embezzlement plan to bilk more than $844,000 from their employer in Pensacola, though the name of that employer was not provided in a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release. The criminal activity continued into 2021 in Santa Rosa County.

Lovitt was the office manager at the business and Williams was employed as a receptionist. Both used corporate credit cards for unauthorized personal purchases on the company dole. Lovitt went further and used her management position to falsify documents and manipulate accounting records to hide their illegal spending. In addition, prosecutors say, Lovitt did not report that spending money as additional income on her federal tax returns.

“The defendants’ theft through embezzlement caused great financial strain on their employer and put other employees’ jobs at risk,” said Ron Loecker, Special Agent in Charge at the Tampa Field Office. “The sentencings serve as an example of what individuals can expect when they lie, cheat, and steal and then try to hide the ill-gotten gains from the IRS.”

Prosecutors acknowledged the Pensacola Police Department and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation unit helped the Emerald Coast Financial Crimes Task Force in the investigation into the case.