Capron woman receives
10 years
By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI - jduchnowski@nwherald.com
WOODSTOCK – Emily Pacifico is unsure whether she’ll be able to save her late husband’s design firm after her former bookkeeper admitted Wednesday to embezzling more than $130,000 over six months.
Pacifico took the reins at Robert Pacifico Associates Inc. after her husband lost his battle with cancer in 2007 and hired Jana Nelson, 42, of Capron, from an employment agency after the previous bookkeeper left last year.
Company representatives discovered a string of thefts in February and have spent $9,000 in specialized accountants to untangle the records Nelson damaged to cover her tracks, Pacifico said. The company has downsized to two employees, moved into a converted garage, and is facing multiple lawsuits related to Nelson’s embezzlement, Pacifico said in a letter to Judge Sharon Prather.
“I invested most of my life savings in this company in the first year after my husband’s death, and watching the company slowly dying is like the agony of losing him all over again,” Pacifico wrote in the letter.
Nelson, though, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday after admitting to 10 theft and forgery charges involving four separate victims, as well as to a probation violation in connection with a 2003 theft case involving another previous employer. Pacifico said she didn’t learn that Nelson was a convicted felon on probation until months after she began working for her company.
In exchange for Nelson’s guilty plea, prosecutors dropped several similar charges. The maximum prison time she faced was 15 years, but Nelson also was eligible for probation, Assistant State’s Attorney Ryan Blackney said.
“We were confident that this was the best sentence we were going to get on this case,” Blackney said of the 10-year prison term.
But defense attorney Michael Barrett said Wednesday was a sad day for Nelson, too.
“It’s a good example of what addiction will do to you,” Barrett said, declining to elaborate on his client’s addiction.
Court officials will apply most of the $16,500 bail Nelson posted to repaying the more than $200,000 authorities said she stole. Judgments were issued for the rest, which means the victims could make efforts to collect it in the future.
Nelson also stole about $30,000 from R&R Metalcraft of Huntley and $10,500 from her ex-husband’s uncle and used someone’s credit card to buy about $250 from Hollister.com, authorities said.
Pacifico complimented Blackney’s and Woodstock police’s work, but said lawmakers should strengthen laws and penalties surrounding financial crimes.
“Throughout this whole process, we have discovered that financial crimes are treated very differently,” Pacifico said. “I think the laws need to be changed, because it can be as damaging as losing a limb in violence.”
