A former credit union loan officer will spend six months in a federal prison and six months in home confinement for embezzling more than $118,000 from the $26.7 million Belen Railway Employees Credit Union in Belen, N.M. over seven years.

U.S. District Court Judge James A. Parker in Albuquerque also ordered Louisa Gabaldon, 44, of Belen, to pay full restitution and serve five years of supervised release.

However, in the days before Gabaldon was sentenced last week, federal prosecutors and Gabaldon’s defense attorney were embroiled in fierce legal disputes over the prison sentence, according to court documents.

Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of 33 months because of her repeated acts of fraud over several years and because the theft was fueled by an excessive gambling habit. Despite Gabaldon’s meager financial resources, she placed $1.2 million in bets and incurred $106,000 in losses at a local casino, according to court records.

Gabaldon’s attorney, Michael Alaird Jr. of Albuquerque, requested no prison time, only an “extended supervised release sentence.” He argued Gabaldon was not a danger to the community and unlikely to re-offend. A lenient sentence would also enable the former loan officer to care for her son who suffers with a serious health condition, he said. In court documents, Alaird also disputed the gambling claims and contended they played no role in his client’s case.

In October 2014, Gabaldon admitted to making more than $118,000 in withdrawals from members’ accounts without their knowledge. She also admitted she added amounts to their loan accounts and opened new loans in their names. Gabaldon concealed the fraud scheme by moving funds among customers’ accounts to make it appear as if loans had been repaid or funds were replaced.

In a letter to Judge Parker, Gerry Troyer, president/CEO of Belen Railway Employees CU, wrote that it was his hope that Gabaldon would receive a sentence in the full extent that is allowed by law.

Gabaldon began embezzling on Jan. 4, 2004, just four months after she was hired. But the credit union didn’t discover Gabaldon was stealing funds until August 2010 and fired her.

Soon after her termination, the cooperative determined Gabaldon committed fraudulent activity on three loans. The credit union filed a suspicious activity report, which led to an investigation, according to Troyer.

Belen Railway Employees CU’s 38-month investigation revealed there was fraudulent activity in 58 members’ loans and share accounts, most of whom were relatives or friends of Gabaldon.

More than $405,000 was reimbursed to members by CUNA Mutual Insurance, according to Troyer. Additionally, the cost incurred by the credit union because of the embezzlement amounted to $120,000.

“Belen is a small community and our members trusted us; as a result of the embezzlement our reputation was tarnished,” Troyer wrote. “It is also important to note that all employees of the credit union were investigated and cleared of any wrong doing.”

While Gabaldon was stealing money from the credit union over the years, she frequented a local casino where she placed $1.2 million in bets and incurred $106,000 in losses.

In court documents, federal prosecutors said given Gabaldon’s limited financial means, the gambling was excessive.

“Indeed, the defendant’s theft fueled her excessive gambling by providing her with additional funds for major household expenses so that she could gamble the money she would have otherwise used to pay those costs,” Federal Prosecutor Sean S. Sullivan wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “This conduct is extremely reprehensible, especially because the defendant still has not acknowledged her gambling problems even after entering a guilty plea in this case.”

However, Gabaldon’s attorney argued there was no evidence or testimony that these alleged gambling amounts played any role in this case.

When federal prosecutors presented the gambling bets and losses to Gabaldon and her attorney, she explained that she lent a casino card to many others to accumulate rewards from the casino’s rewards program and had no way of knowing what the amounts of the bets represented, according to court documents.

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Credit Union Loan Officer Gets Six Months for Fraud

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