Gambling Addict gets prison for embezzling $1M

Gambling Addiction increases with proximity.

Land O'Lakes worker gets prison for embezzling $1M

• Article by: PAUL WALSH , Star Tribune
• Updated: November 29, 2012

"Pathological gambler" stole from Land O'Lakes.

 

 

A onetime payroll supervisor for Land O'Lakes Inc. has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for embezzling more than $1 million to feed her addiction as a "pathological gambler" and cover other personal expenses.

Cynthia C. Jacobsen, 58, of Brooklyn Park, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in St. Paul to two years and two months in prison and ordered to pay $1,035,955.58 in restitution. Jacobsen pleaded guilty in July to mail fraud.

In her plea agreement, Jacobsen acknowledged that from 2008 until May 2012, she entered her daughter's name into the Arden Hills dairy company's payment system as a vendor and authorized 489 payments to her. The checks were mailed to Jacobsen's home, where she and her daughter lived.

Jacobsen forged her daughter's signature, then "cashed the checks and used the money on various items including gambling," federal prosecutor Chris Wilton wrote in a presentencing filing with the court. "It is clear that the defendant has personal issues including a very real addiction to gambling."

The defense explained in its presentencing filing that Jacobsen sought an escape in casino gambling after her son-in-law died on Valentine's Day 2008 following a diabetic coma. Jacobsen's income dropped when she missed work because of knee surgery.

"Ms. Jacobsen's gambling quickly spiraled out of control," defense attorney James Becker wrote.

"Although spending time in casinos was a somewhat effective respite from her real-world problems, her gambling habit added to them, and she soon was having difficulty covering even basic expenses."

Desperation, Becker added, forced Jacobsen to steal from her employer.

After her embezzlement was exposed, Jacobsen was assessed and deemed to be "a pathological gambler," Becker continued. He said she has been participating in Gamblers Anonymous and "is committed to recovering from her disease."

 

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Ex-Land O’Lakes Worker Gets 2 Yrs. for Embezzling $1M

In addition to her prison sentence, Cynthia Jacobsen was ordered to pay $1.04 million in restitution.

by Jake Anderson

November 29, 2012

A former accounts payable supervisor for Land O’ Lakes has been sentenced to two years and two months in prison for embezzling more than $1 million from the Arden Hills-based agricultural cooperative, Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

Cynthia Jacobsen of Brooklyn Park, who was charged in June with one count of mail fraud, pleaded guilty the following month.

In addition to handing down Jacobsen’s prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank ordered her to pay $1.04 million in restitution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

While working as an accounts payable supervisor, Jacobsen authorized payments to vendors that provided services to Land O’ Lakes. In her plea agreement, she admitted that from 2008 through May 2012, she entered her daughter’s name into the company’s payment system in the place of a legitimate vendor. She authorized 489 illegal payments, which were mailed to her residence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Jacobsen also admitted to forging her daughter’s signature in order to cash the checks for her personal use.

Jacobsen’s attorney wrote in court documents that her crime stemmed from “a perfect storm of guilt and gambling.” Her daughter’s husband died in 2008 after being in a diabetic coma for more than two years. His home health care costs proved “financially disastrous,” and knee surgery rendered Jacobsen unable to work. She “craved an escape,” her gambling “quickly spiraled out of control,” and she embezzled funds after being unable to cover basic expenses, according to court documents.

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