At a change of plea hearing yesterday, a Laramie woman admitted to taking over $40,000 from her employer.
Kristina Muechel, a former office manager at Laramie Dental Arts, faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine as well as $41,092.61 in restitution for a single count of wrongful taking of property.
She agreed to a plea deal, changing her plea to guilty, and in exchange the prosecution suggested a three to six year suspended sentence with five years of probation in addition to the restitution mentioned above. The suggested sentence is not binding to the court, so Muechel could still receive the full sentence.
Dr. Troy Knaub, owner of Laramie Dental Arts, is looking forward to the end of this case.
“This has been a very long and trying time, and we are relieved that Kristina Meuchel has accepted responsibility for her crime,” Knaub said. “We are looking forward to the completion of this case and hope that the outcome will send a strong message that prevents this crime from happening in Laramie again. We hope no other Laramie business will ever have to endure this kind of experience. ”
The investigation began when an employee at Dentrix, a computer software company, was reviewing audit reports at Laramie Dental Arts. Lisa Harris, who is trained in fraud detection, noticed a pattern of changing payment methods and dates almost all under Muechel’s account name. This account is secured by a password no one, not even Knaub, knew until after Muechel left her position in December 2014.
Knaub noticed Muechel was shredding large amounts of documents before she left, and after she left he noticed a large volume of documents owned by Laramie Dental Arts were missing.
Judge Jeffrey Donnell tried to figure out why Muechel committed the crime, asking her why she did it.
“My kids,” Muechel said. “I have four kids. It was wrong.”
When probed for further explanation she said, “I don’t have any excuses. I am sorry.”
Donnell responded with an apology of his own.
“I’m sorry too,” Donnell said. “That is the answer a third grader gives – I am sorry or I don’t know why I did it.”
Donnell ended the trial with some advice for Muechel regarding restitution at her sentencing trial, which has not yet been scheduled.
“It would be in your best interest to have a significant amount of money in your pocket at your sentencing trial,” Donnell said.
