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Press Release

Theresa Blow Pleads Guilty To Grand Isle Embezzlements

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Vermont

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Theresa Blow, 65, of South Hero, pled guilty yesterday in United States District Court in Burlington to a charge of federal program embezzlement.  U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III released Blow on conditions pending sentencing, which has been scheduled for February 2, 2015. 

Last week, the United States Attorney filed a one-count information charging Blow with embezzling from the Champlain Islands Parent-Child Center, a non-profit pre-school and after-school care center in South Hero for which she served as a contract bookkeeper.  Blow pled guilty to that charge today.  According to the information, between 2010 and March 2014, Blow embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from the Center by writing without authorization checks that were made payable to herself or to her husband's business, then forging the signature of the authorized signer on the Center's checking account.  Blow deposited the forged checks into her personal bank account and used the proceeds for her own benefit.

The information charges that, in roughly the same time frame, Blow also embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from Grand Isle County, for which she served as appointed treasurer.  She stole this money by issuing without authorization checks to herself of to her husband's business, then depositing the checks into her personal bank account.

The exact amount of the embezzlements is still under investigation and will be determined by the court at sentencing.

Blow faces up to ten years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.  The actual sentence will be determined with reference to federal sentencing guidelines.

This case was investigated by the Vermont State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

Blow is represented by Mark Kaplan.  The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.

Updated June 22, 2015