Trout Creek woman sentenced for wire fraud

A Trout Creek woman convicted of wire fraud in U.S. District Court will spend the next four years behind bars and pay more than $650,000 in restitution after years of embezzling checks from her one-time employer’s largest client.

Judge Donald W. Molloy handed down the sentence on March 25. Tina Rae Wood, 49, pleaded guilty to the wire fraud charge in November.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office accused Wood of using her position, which gave her access to the Trout Creek supply firm’s accounting system, to embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars over five years. According to court documents, Wood rerouted checks from a major client into her personal bank account.

She tried to cover her trail by ordering deposit slips for her personal account that referenced her employer, prosecutors said. When questions arose at work, she blamed the company’s accounting software.

The company’s owner grew suspicious in 2019 and confronted Wood, court documents said. She refused to speak with him, instead cleaning out her desk.

A subsequent FBI investigation found 109 checks, worth about $650,843, deposited into Wood’s account.

Wood began working for the firm in 2013, starting out as an office administrator and secretary.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Racicot prosecuted the case. Wood was allowed to self-report to the Bureau of Prisons.

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.