Shirley Whittington Convicted of Wire Fraud in Angola Scam

BATON ROUGE, LA — Shirley Whittington, 46, of St. Francisville, Louisiana, is headed for federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud in a scheme that bled dry the Angola Employees Recreation Committee (AERC) over seven years. The former Colonel at Louisiana State Penitentiary exploited her role as Treasurer to siphon off thousands in organization funds — all while hiding the theft behind falsified QuickBooks entries and fake expense reports.

Whittington admitted in court yesterday to diverting AERC money between March 2009 and May 2016 through ATM withdrawals, cashback transactions, and unauthorized retail purchases — both online and in-store. She also skimmed cash from concession sales and used AERC debit cards for personal gain. As Treasurer from 2006 to 2016, she held full financial control: depositing funds, writing checks, reconciling accounts, and preparing reports for audits.

To cover her tracks, Whittington manipulated the AERC’s QuickBooks system, erasing vendor names and labeling personal expenses as ‘misc.’ or ‘misc. business expenses.’ These deliberate lies created a false paper trail, making it appear the transactions were legitimate. The fraud escaped detection for years despite internal audits and cooperation with outside accountants — a failure that underscores the brazenness of her betrayal.

U.S. Attorney Walt Green didn’t mince words: ‘Public corruption has been and will continue to be a top priority for this office.’ He praised the FBI, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office, and the state Attorney General’s Office for their joint work in cracking the case. ‘A unified effort is essential to battling corruption,’ Green said, signaling a broader crackdown on abuse of public trust.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Sallet added that officials who exploit their positions for personal gain ‘abuse the trust that others have placed in them.’ The FBI, he vowed, will pursue every lead when public servants turn predators. Louisiana Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera echoed that sentiment: ‘Louisiana’s taxpayers want — and deserve — public officials who don’t serve themselves first.’

The case was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana and the FBI’s Baton Rouge Field Office, with critical support from auditors at the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Dippel, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, led the prosecution. Sentencing for Whittington awaits, but the fall of a prison enforcer turned fraudster sends a clear message: no badge, rank, or title shields the corrupt from justice.