Embezzlement Draws Jail Term

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - (08/31/04) – A former employee at Rome FCUwas sentenced to 46 months in prison and ordered to pay more than$1 million in restitution for an embezzlement scheme that drainedalmost $1.1 million from the credit union. Sharon Smith, 45, ofRome, stole the funds between 1995 and 2003 by manipulating thecredit union’s books and creating fictitious members in whoseaccounts she deposited funds. Smith is married to a staffer forU.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, named by the New York CU League thisweek as legislator of the year, but officials in Boehlert’soffice said the congressman knew nothing about thescheme.