Former Employee Sentenced for Stealing $1.6 Million from Crotched Mountain Foundation

CONCORD, NH–United States Attorney John P. Kacavas announced that Linda D. Bevins, of Deering, New Hampshire, was sentenced today to 24 months in federal prison for stealing about $1.6 million from the Crotched Mountain Foundation.

Bevins was formerly employed as the payroll supervisor for Crotched Mountain. From about June 2004, through about July 2007, she manipulated the organization’s payroll system to divert about $1.6 million in unauthorized payments to herself and others. She caused unauthorized electronic deposits drawn on Crotched Mountain’s payroll account to be made to her personal accounts and to the personal accounts of others, and caused unauthorized paychecks to be issued to former and current employees of the organization. Bevins forged endorsements on those checks and negotiated them or deposited them in her accounts. She also caused other unauthorized paychecks to be issued payable in her name and in the name of another individual.

Crotched Mountain is a nonprofit charitable organization that provides rehabilitative, educational, and other services to children and adults with disabilities and their families. It receives federal funds in the form of subsidy payments administered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for housing for the disabled and elderly. It is a violation of federal law for an employee of an organization that receives federal funding to steal more than $5,000 from that organization.

In March, 2008, a federal grand jury indicted Bevins for embezzling about $1.6 from Crotched Mountain while she was employed there. Bevins pleaded guilty to that charge on July 22, 2009.

Today, in United States District Court in Concord, New Hampshire, Bevins was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison. The court ordered also ordered Bevins to pay restitution of about $1.6 million and to serve three years of supervised release upon her release from prison.

This case was investigated by the FBI, the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Greenfield Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark S. Zuckerman and Special Assistant United States Attorney Karen Gorham of the Hillsborough County Attorney’s Office.