Mason City Bank Teller Sentenced to Federal Prison for Embezzlement

A woman who embezzled nearly $70,000 from a Mason City bank was sentenced today to more than one year in federal prison.

Margaret Marie (Peggy) Sheese, age 54, from Mason City, Iowa, received the prison term after an August 16, 2013 guilty plea to one count of embezzlement by a bank employee.

In a plea agreement, Sheese admitted that, between about October 2011 and January 2013, she stole $69,200 from Northwood State Bank in Mason City. At the time, Sheese was a teller at the bank. Sheese admitted making 29 secret withdrawals from accounts belonging to a particular bank customer. Sheese altered the bank’s records to falsely show that the bank customer’s mailing address had changed to a Post Office box under Sheese’s control. By changing the mailing address, Sheese caused the bank to send the customer’s account statements to Sheese rather than to the customer. Sheese also admitted that, on January 15, 2013, she stole $2,000 in cash from the bank.

Sheese was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Sheese was sentenced to 14 months' imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release. A special assessment of $100 was imposed, and she was ordered to make $71,680 in restitution to the victim bank and its fraud insurer. There is no parole in the federal system.

Sheese was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the United States Marshal on December 16, 2013.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Peter Deegan and was investigated by the Mason City Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.