Bank Teller Convicted of Embezzlement

BOSTON – A Dorchester woman pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to embezzling $172,551 from a customer of the Mattapan bank at which she was a teller.

J’Cynda Sales, 22, pleaded guilty to embezzlement by a bank employee. Between November 2015 and May 2016, Sales made 48 unauthorized withdrawals from the account of a bank customer totaling $172,551. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Sept. 20, 2017.

The charge of embezzlement by a bank employee provides for a sentence of no greater than 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, a fine of $1 million and restitution. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen P. Heymann of Weinreb’s Economic Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.