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July 27, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Three Indicted on Charges of Embezzlement and
Theft From Employee Pension Plans

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA — Three individuals were named in two Indictments returned by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Martinsburg, West Virginia, on July 21, 2010.

United States Attorney Betsy C. Jividen announced that:

BRYON GOLDIZEN, age 35, and STEPHANIE GOLDIZEN, both of Cabins, West Virginia, were named in a one-count Indictment. The Indictment alleges that BRYON GOLDIZEN and STEPHANIE GOLDIZEN, aided and abetted by each other, embezzled and stole money in the approximate amount of $38,321.82 from Bryco Bore and Pipe, Inc. SIMPLE IRA Plan, an employee pension benefit plan, from January 1, 2007, through December 2008, in Grant County, West Virginia. The Indictment also includes a forfeiture count wherein the United States intends to seek the forfeiture of any property constituting or derived from proceeds traceable to such offense and a money judgment in the amount of $38,321.82. If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

SHERRY LYNN HILL, a Martinsburg resident, was charged in a one-count Indictment. The Indictment alleges that HILL embezzled and stole money in the approximate amount of $31,766.20 from Stinger Sheet Metal, Inc. SIMPLE IRA Plan, an employee pension benefit plan, from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2008, in Berkeley County, West Virginia. The Indictment also includes a forfeiture count wherein the United States intends to seek the forfeiture of any property constituting or derived from proceeds traceable to such offense and a money judgment in the amount of $31,766.20. If convicted, HILL faces a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

The cases will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Paul T. Camilletti. The cases were investigated by the United States Department of Labor.

It should be noted that the charges contained in the Indictments are merely accusations and not evidence of guilt, and that each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.