HONOLULU (AP) — A former manager of a defunct credit union on Hawaii’s island of Molokai has been sentenced to seven years in prison for embezzling more than $1 million with another employee.
Allenie Naeole was sentenced this week after pleading guilty in February to charges of conspiracy to embezzle credit union funds and aggravated identity theft, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported .
Naeole conspired with Janell Purdy, the only other permanent employee of the First Hawaiian Homes Credit Union, to steal the money between June 2008 and December 2015, authorities said.
“This caused the demise of a credit union on Molokai,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Perlmutter said.
The actual amount taken was higher, but FBI investigators were unable to recover records before 2008, Perlmutter said.
Naeole used the stolen money to pay credit card bills, living expenses and to support family members, Perlmutter said. Investigators did not find any high-dollar purchases, she said.
U.S. Judge Derrick K. Watson told Naeole that her sentence was not influenced by her lack of a criminal history.
“You picked a doozy of a first offense,” Watson said Wednesday.
Naeole also must pay more than $1 million in restitution.
She told the court that she knows she committed a “horrendous” crime and harmed the community, but she loves Molokai and wants to keep living there.
Purdy, the credit union’s former teller and customer service representative, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to embezzle credit union funds in April. Her sentencing is scheduled for next month.