U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson | U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson | U.S. Department of Justice
Jennifer Lynn Horton, a 49-year-old from Shepherdsville, Kentucky, has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for embezzling over $1 million from her employer. Horton will also serve one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud.
Horton was the office manager for a family-owned contracting company in Greenfield, Indiana, from 2011 to 2022. Her responsibilities included managing payroll, customer invoices, and company credit cards. From January 2016 to December 2022, she executed multiple schemes to defraud her employer.
Horton inflated her salary on 466 occasions without approval, amounting to $515,000. In December 2020, she added her husband to the company's payroll without him being hired as an employee and stole an additional $107,000 under his name. To cover up these actions, Horton manipulated the company's payroll data and misled her boss about financial reports.
Additionally, Horton redirected credit card payments made by customers into her personal bank account over 185 times and altered accounting records to hide the thefts. She also used the company credit card for personal expenses including buying a house and cars.
In total, Horton embezzled approximately $1,116,258. As part of her sentence, she must forfeit four vehicles—a 2022 Ford F350, a 2022 Ford Mustang, a 2021 Ford Mustang, and a 2020 Ford EcoSport—and pay a judgment of $1,002,268.
Zachary A. Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana stated: “This criminal abused her friendships and position of trust to swindle a family-owned company out of over a million dollars.” He emphasized that such fraud harms companies and communities alike.
Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton remarked on the importance of accountability: “Holding individuals accountable for financial crimes like this is essential to protecting the integrity of our businesses and communities.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation with assistance from local authorities. U.S. District Judge James R. Sweeney II imposed Horton's sentence while Assistant U.S. Attorney Corbin Houston prosecuted the case.
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