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Press Release

Carmen Dozier Imprisoned For Inn Embezzlement And Bank Fraud

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 Carmen Dozier, 39, of Rutland, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Rutland to 15 months of imprisonment following her guilty plea to wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford also ordered that Dozier serve three years of supervised release following completion of her prison term and pay restitution of more than $81,000. The court directed that Dozier surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a to-be-determined date after November 1.

Last February, a federal grand jury in Rutland returned a two-count indictment charging Dozier with wire fraud and bank fraud. According to the indictment, in May 2013 Dozier was hired as the front desk manager at the Brandon Inn in Brandon, Vermont. Dozier prepared payroll records which were sent to the Inn's payroll processing company. She also took and confirmed reservations and paid vendors for goods and services for the Inn. Beginning in July 2013 and continuing until mid-May 2014, Dozier embezzled about $75,000 from the Inn. She did this by falsifying the Inn's payroll records to inflate the regular and overtime hours she ostensibly worked, causing the Inn's payroll processor to issue her paychecks or electronic direct deposits in amounts that exceeded her earned income. Dozier also caused fraudulent electronic transfers of Inn funds to her personal bank account at Lake Sunapee Bank. In addition, Dozier fraudulently used credit cards issued to the Inn's owners to make personal purchases, and fraudulently opened and used a BillMeLater PayPal service account.

Dozier also defrauded Lake Sunapee Bank by depositing, and attempting to deposit, about $20,000 worth of checks which were made payable to Dozier and which were purportedly signed by family members. In fact, the checks were written against out-of-state accounts which either were closed or did not contain sufficient funds. Dozier attempted to withdraw the apparent proceeds of the checks from Lake Sunapee Bank before the checks were dishonored. Lake Sunapee Bank suffered a loss of more than $3800.

This case was investigated by the Brandon Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Dozier is represented by Federal Public Defender Michael Desautels. The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.

Updated September 15, 2015