An Ellington paralegal will serve nearly four years in federal prison for stealing more than $1.7 million from the South Windsor law firm where she worked to support her casino habit.
Patricia Baddeley Meehan, 44, was sentenced in Bridgeport federal court Thursday to 46 months in prison and three years of supervised release, authorities said. She pleaded guilty in October 2008 to two counts of mail fraud and one count of filing a false tax return.
U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill also ordered Baddeley Meehan to make restitution and to pay federal taxes on what she stole.
According to U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy, Baddeley Meehan embezzled money from her employer’s and clients’ accounts while handling real estate closings for law firm Berman and Russo in South Windsor.
From August 2003 to May 2007, the paralegal began cutting herself checks – 77 in all – to tap funds from various client accounts and her employer’s checking account to cover cash advances on credit cards and from various unidentified casinos, prosecutors said.
The FBI discovered, prosecutors said, that from Aug. 11, 2002 to June 23, 2007, Baddeley Meehan received $1.5 million in cash advances from the casinos.
She tried covering her tracks by failing to deposit funds in client accounts and moving money back and forth between accounts, authorities said. She also denied doing some of the fraud, prosecutors said.
In addition to the money she stole, Baddeley Meehan owes the IRS $123,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest, authorities said.
