GREENFIELD, Mass.—Although funds were stolen from just one member’s account, a teller has been sentenced to two years in prison here in part after a judge found that the victims included all 27,000 members of the credit union.
Meghan Porter, 26, was sentenced to two years in prison, with credit for one year served, along with 10 years probation and ordered to pay $92,500 in restitution after pleading guilty to stealing while she was a teller at Freedom Credit Union.
Porter, who was convicted of two different charges of larceny in an amount of more than $250, entered her guilty plea in September. From 2010-2012, Porter, who was the head teller at the credit union’s Greenfield, Mass., branch, stole $92,500 through 46 different transactions from accounts that belonged to member David Brooks.
The loss was not covered by Freedom CU’s insurance, and the credit union had to reimburse the funds to Brooks, who closed his accounts.
Freedom CU President Barry Crosby was quoted by The Recorder as saying growth at the branch had “ground to a standstill” as a result of news surrounding the theft. Crosby said that from 2010-2012 deposit growth at the Greenfield branch had been 86%, but had plummeted to 5.4% after the thefts had been discovered. Crosby also told the court Freedom had to spend $25,000 in legal fees after Porter filed suit against it and the state’s unemployment benefits after benefits were denied.
Crosby said the credit union also spent more than $25,000 in legal fees after Porter sued Freedom Credit Union and the state unemployment department for denying her benefits, Crosby said.
Judge Bertha Josephson agreed with Prosecutor Jayme Parent that there were 27,000 victims in the case, because the losses had to be taken from the cooperative’s earnings, funds that belonged to all the members.