A Columbus woman was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday after she pleaded guilty to embezzling nearly a half-million dollars from her employer.
Pauline “Bernice” Lile, 62, of 1256 Lee Stokes Road, was sentenced to serve the maximum amount of time in jail after she embezzled more than $470,000 from Gordman Insurance Services.
Lile, who also served on the Lowndes County E-911 board, was arrested in September 2011. She reportedly embezzled approximately $800 a day from January 2011 until August 2011 from her employer, Jack Gordman.
She pleaded guilty to the felony charge in September 2012, but was granted additional time before her sentencing so she could raise money to reimburse Gordman for the stolen funds.
Lile was unable to come up with the money and was sentenced to 10 years with the Mississippi Department of Corrections. However, Lile will likely serve a fraction of her sentence and spend between 18 and 30 months in prison.
She was ordered to pay restitution to Gordman in the amount of $474,238, but no pay schedule was given.
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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