SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — The former director and the former bookkeeper of the western Missouri ambulance district have been sentenced to federal prison in an embezzlement scheme.
Fifty-three-year-old Tina Werner and 54-year-old James McKenzie, both of Nevada, were sentenced Friday for embezzling more than $270,000 from the Vernon County Ambulance District.
Werner, the bookkeeper, was sentenced to three years and 10 months without parole for wire fraud. The former district director, McKenzie was sentenced to one year and three months without parole for misprision of a felony. They also were ordered to pay $260,000 in restitution to the ambulance district.
Prosecutors say Werner committed fraudulent transactions for nearly three years and McKenzie willingly concealed her actions. Prosecutors say the two were having an affair.
The scheme forced the ambulance district to take out two loans to continuing its operations.
