NORFOLK, Va. – A woman was sentenced Friday for embezzling over $35,000 in copays and cash belonging to the medical practice that employed her, officials report.
51-year-old Shawna Linell Edwards was sentenced to one active year in prison.
According to officials, from January 2016 through August 2018, Edwards worked for a local group of surgeons at their office in Norfolk.
She was responsible for submitting the practice’s bank deposits, which included cash service fees paid by patients.
They say rather than document and deposit those payments, Edwards stole them from her employer and kept them for herself.
She was sentenced for eventually taking over $35,000 over the course of more than two years.
In March 2018, an accountant discovered a discrepancy between the practice’s bank account and payment system records.
After an audit was conducted, the accountant discovered Edwards’ crimes. When she was confronted, Edwards apologized and said she had embezzled the money because she was having financial and medical issues.
On Feb. 22, 2022, Edwards pleaded guilty to six counts of felony embezzlement.
On Friday, Judge Jerrauld C. Jones sentenced Edwards to serve one active year in prison.
Her sentence includes one year for each of the six counts of embezzlement, with five of those years suspended.
Edwards’ suspended sentence is conditioned upon completing an indeterminate period of supervised probation and 20 years of good behavior, as well as paying restitution of more than $16,000 upon her release from custody, officials report.
Edwards was previously convicted of seven counts of obtaining prescriptions by fraud in 2009.
“Employees who betray the trust of their employers must pay the price for their crimes,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “When people steal, whether with a gun or a keyboard, we will hold them accountable.”
