Ammon woman goes to prison for embezzlement

An Ammon woman who pleaded guilty to embezzlement by a credit union employee was sentenced Monday.

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill sentenced Virginia Mecham, 40, to two months in prison, followed by two months of home detention. Mecham will also serve three years of supervised release and pay a restitution of $23,625.

She pleaded guilty in February.

According to the plea agreement, in August 2011, customers of Westmark Credit Union in Idaho Falls contacted the credit union to ask about unauthorized withdrawals from their accounts, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson said. An examination of the questionable transactions determined they were all handled by Mecham, who was a credit union teller. During an interview with bank officials, Mecham admitted embezzling the money and admitted that she spent it on various personal expenses.

The case was investigated by the FBI.