'Hate what I did:' Prison for woman who admitted to embezzling to support addiction, jewelry business
FRANKLIN -- A Franklin woman who worked as an office manager at a business in Greenfield has been sentenced to prison in a case in which she was accused of embezzling nearly $452,000 to fuel her opioid addiction and her jewelry business.
Connie Larmon, 60, in late November of 2018 pleaded guilty to three charges:
In court on Thursday, Feb. 7 Larmon was sentenced to serve 30 months (two and a half years) in prison, and 60 months (five years) in prison on each count, to be served concurrently. She was also sentenced to $406,000 in court ordered restitution to her former employer and $20,275 to the state of Wisconsin.
A statement from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue noted, according to the criminal complaint, Larmon was an office manager for a Greenfield business from 2014 to 2017. During this time, she embezzled $452,000 from her employer. Larmon stated that she did this to fuel a drug addiction; however, she purchased thousands of dollars worth of clothing and costume jewelry. Additionally, Larmon failed to report the embezzled income on her 2015 and 2016 Wisconsin income tax returns. Therefore, she evaded $20,275 in state taxes.
It began when an employee noticed duplicate tax bills, which led to an even bigger discovery. Authorities said they followed the money, which included dozens of unauthorized checks written to Larmon herself, and hundreds of charges on her employer's credit card. Police said the money was used to "purchase jewelry from sellers on eBay."
Larmon told FOX6 News over the phone, "I had an opioid addiction that sprang all of this. I hate what I did from the very beginning and just want to make this right."
Greenfield police uncovered emails written from Larmon to her employer in September of 2017. One included a statement, "I'm sorry I brought about this nightmare." Another email read, "I promise to pay back everything." Another read, "I am sickened by what I have allowed to happen to myself but even more importantly to those around me."
She told FOX6 News "I am totally responsible for what I did."
Her former employer filed a civil suit against her. She said she was making monthly payments to him.
Online networking sites showed Larmon also had an extensive career at the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office.