Middleton Woman Pleads Guilty to Mail Fraud and Filing False Tax Returns

Connie A. Stills, 55, of Middleton, Idaho, pled guilty today in federal court in Boise to filing false tax returns and mail fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.

At her plea hearing, Ms. Stills admitted that from 1991 to 2008, she was employed as a bookkeeper for Port of Hope Centers, Inc., in Nampa, Idaho, a non-profit entity which operates drug and alcohol treatment centers throughout Idaho. Between 2004 and 2008, Stills embezzled approximately $1.3 million from Port of Hope. By failing to include the embezzled income on her personal federal income tax returns, Stills substantially under-reported the amount of her adjusted gross income and the amount of tax due. Stills also used Port of Hope funds to pay personal expenses incurred on her credit card and to obtain cash advances for personal purposes. Between 2004 and 2008, Stills caused Port of Hope to pay personal credit card expenses of approximately $1.2 million. She used the United States mail to send checks, drawn on a Port of Hope account, to pay her personal credit card account.

The federal charge of filing false tax returns carries a maximum prison sentence of three years, supervised release of up to three years, and a fine of up to $250,000. The federal charge of mail fraud carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, supervised release of up to three years, and a fine of up to $250,000.

Sentencing is scheduled for December 9, 2010, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill in Boise. The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Nampa Police Department.