Former County Chief Deputy Auditor Sentenced to 84 Months for Embezzling Government Funds, Tax Fraud and Wire Fraud

A former chief deputy auditor for LaPorte County, Indiana, was sentenced today to 84 months in prison for embezzling over $150,000 from the LaPorte County government, tax fraud and defrauding her father-in-law out of more than $600,000, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David A. Capp of the Northern District of Indiana.

Mary Ray, 68, of LaPorte, was also ordered to forfeit $137,249.59 and pay $801,315.66 in restitution as part of her sentence, which was imposed by U.S. District Judge Jon E. Deguilio of the Northern District of Indiana.  On Sept. 17, 2015, Ray was convicted of two counts of theft of government monies, two counts of making false statements on a tax return and seven counts of wire fraud. 

According to evidence presented at trial, from September 2011 through December 2012, while she served as chief deputy auditor for LaPorte County, Ray embezzled more than $150,000 from county coffers and underreported her income on her U.S. Individual Tax Returns by failing to report the embezzled funds.  Evidence at trial also showed that Ray defrauded her father-in-law, an 86-year-old disabled veteran, out of more than $600,000 in funds that he entrusted her to oversee.  The evidence also demonstrated that Ray used the illegally-obtained funds to gamble at casinos. 

The FBI and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation investigated the case with assistance from the Indiana State Police, the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department and the Indiana State Board of Accounts.  Trial Attorney Peter Halpern of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald J. Schmid of the Northern District of Indiana prosecuted the case.