Former Edmond Bookkeeper Pleads Guilty to Embezzling from Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission
U.S. Attorney’s Office November 23, 2009 |
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK—Today, Denise Lynn Thurlow, 46, of Edmond, Oklahoma, pled guilty to embezzling funds from the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (“IOGCC”), announced Robert J. Troester, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. The IOGCC is a compact of oil and gas producing states with headquarters in Oklahoma City. It is comprised of 30 member states and eight associate member states. The IOGCC’s revenue consists of dues paid by the participating states and federal funding. According to court records and the plea hearing today, Thurlow was employed as a bookkeeper by the IOGCC from August 1997 to November 2008, when she embezzled IOGCC funds by issuing checks to pay her personal credit card account. As part of the plea, Thurlow admitted that the loss to the IOGCC attributable to her conduct is between $30,000 and $70,000.
At sentencing, Thurlow faces up to 10 years in federal prison, up to a $250,000 fine and restitution to the IOGCC. A sentencing hearing will be set in approximately 90 days.
This case is a result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sanford C. Coats.