Whitesburg Manager Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud, Identity Theft

GRIMY TIMES EXCLUSIVE: A Whitesburg, Ky., office manager has copped to a massive fraud and identity theft scheme that swindled her employer out of nearly a quarter-million dollars.

Sherry Thomas, 50, pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court, admitting to writing 173 forged checks totaling $238,052.23 from the Carbon River Coal Corporation’s accounts. She funneled the cash into her personal account while working as the company’s office manager and bookkeeper from the 1980s until January 2019.

Thomas, who was indicted in December 2019, forged the signature of the Corporation’s Vice President to execute the theft. The IRS Criminal Investigations unit and the Department of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration led the investigation into the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Rabold.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; and Bryant Jackson, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, jointly announced Thomas’ guilty plea. She is scheduled to be sentenced on December 8, 2020, facing up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and at least two more years for identity theft.

Thomas also risks a fine of $500,000, but her actual sentence will depend on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and federal sentencing statutes.

The case serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of financial corruption and the meticulous attention required to prevent such crimes.