Spring Resident Sentenced to 23 Months for Embezzling $1M from HVAC Company

52-year-old Spring resident Sonia Yvonne Rodriguez was found guilty of embezzling about $1 million from her company and given a sentence of roughly two years in jail. The U.S. Attorney’s Office claims that at the time of the crime, Rodriguez was an office manager for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning company.

Rodriguez was sentenced to 23 months in prison and a year of supervised release during the sentencing hearing, which was overseen by U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett. She entered a guilty plea on August 15 and will shortly be moved to an unidentified U.S. Bureau of Prisons prison, concluding her release on bond. Beyond the monetary losses brought on by Rodriguez’s conduct, victims’ emotional testimonials at the court conveyed a sense of profound betrayal and personal violation.

Rodriguez used the company’s accounting software to fabricate tax payments, which she subsequently removed from the check register, transferring $938,387.26 meant for federal tax payments into her personal bank account between 2015 and 2020, according to a Secret Service investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sherin Daniel and James Hu, who prosecuted the case, said that a nearly five-year-long trust scheme was exposed in court.

“This sentencing sends a clear message that those who abuse positions of trust for personal gain will face serious consequences,” according to a press release issued by U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. He underlined the harm embezzlement does to relationships based on trust, both personally and professionally, and his office’s dedication to pursuing justice for the victims.

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