A Texas law firm employee has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for embezzling about $1.5 million, according to Leigha Simonton, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr sentenced Christiane Kathleen Irwin, 44, to 50 months in prison and ordered her to pay $1,483,008.56 in restitution on Wednesday, according to the US Department of Justice.
In August 2023, Ms. Irwin entered a guilty plea to one count of wire fraud following her indictment in March 2022.
According to court documents, she was in charge of the legal firm’s weekly payroll, and she falsely overstated her earnings.
From 2019 to 2021, she received inflated paychecks from her fraudulent scheme every two weeks, despite earning an annual salary of over $140,000, excluding bonuses of up to $50,000.
Throughout the three years of her plan, Ms. Irwin utilized the ill-gotten monies to fund a more extravagant lifestyle, which included purchasing a luxury car and taking numerous holidays. The FBI’s Dallas Field Office investigated the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nashonme Johnson and Jenna Rudoff leading the prosecution and Financial Auditor Sheila Powell providing assistance.
