Dana Morris, 42, of Williamsburg, Virginia, was hit with a 37-month federal prison sentence after stealing more than $558,595.26 from an elderly woman she was hired to care for. The crime unfolded over two years while Morris worked as a housekeeper and personal assistant, exploiting the trust of a vulnerable employer in Williamsburg.
Court records show Morris forged or altered 117 checks from her employer’s personal account between 2012 and 2014, funneling every dollar into her own bank account. She spent the stolen funds recklessly—on rent, luxury jewelry, and over $445,000 in retail and entertainment purchases. One particularly brazen act involved stealing $22,500 through three forged checks to pay off a $27,000 2014 Hyundai Sonata Limited, purchased in March 2014.
Morris pleaded guilty on July 14, 2016, to two federal charges: engaging in a monetary transaction involving proceeds of unlawful activity and tax evasion. Not only did she strip her employer of hundreds of thousands in savings, but she also vanished from the tax system. In 2012, she underreported her income; in 2013 and 2014, she didn’t file returns at all—submitting extensions claiming she owed nothing, a lie that helped her evade $172,497.00 in federal income taxes.
The scheme unraveled when financial inconsistencies triggered an investigation led by IRS-Criminal Investigation. Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Thomas Holloman, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS-CI’s Washington, D.C. Field Office, announced the sentencing following the ruling by U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard J. Zlotnick and Kaitlin C. Gratton handled the prosecution, which was brought through the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Financial Crimes Task Force—a unit dedicated to targeting complex fraud schemes. The case underscores how personal trust is often the first casualty in financial exploitation crimes.
Documents related to the case, including Morris’s plea agreement and sentencing memo, are available through the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the federal court’s PACER system under Case No. 4:16-cr-4.
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Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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