Elaine Lewis, 52, of the Jefferson County portion of Fenton has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for embezzling more than $300,000 from a St. Louis County church, the US Attorney’s Office reports.
She also must pay restitution of more than $303,000, the report said.
Lewis worked as a bookkeeper for the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection and between 2009 and August 2013, she “used a variety of schemes to embezzle more than $300,000 from the church’s checking account at Bank of America,” according to the report. “Most of the funds were transferred and deposited into a Commerce Bank account associated with her family’s business – Advanced Lock & Key Inc. – which was operated out of her residence.”
Lewis pleaded guilty to one felony count of mail fraud in December and was sentenced today (May 14) by US District Judge Rodney W. Sippel.
The case was investigated by the US Postal Inspection Service and the Sunset Hills Police Department.
Assistant US attorney John Bodenhausen handling the case.