Three Former Tellers at Elk City Bank Sentenced to Prison for $427,000 Embezzlement

U.S. Attorney's Office

Western District of Oklahoma

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, January 26, 2018

Three Former Tellers at Elk City Bank Sentenced to Prison for $427,000 Embezzlement

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - BREANNA LASHEA VINSON, 26, of Elk City, Oklahoma; SHANQUAIE STEVENSON, 27, of Weatherford, Oklahoma; and KAYLA RENE JACKSON, 27, of Elk City were sentenced yesterday to federal prison for conspiracy to embezzle funds from a federally insured bank, in connection with a $427,632.90 embezzlement from Great Plains National Bank ("GPNB") in Elk City, announced Robert J. Troester, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

On August 17, 2017, Vinson, Stevenson, and Jackson pleaded guilty to separate one-count Informations charging them with conspiracy to embezzle funds from mid-2014 to 2016 at GPNB in Elk City. Vinson, Stevenson, and Jackson were GPNB tellers who had access to the bank's cash vault. At their plea hearings, the defendants admitted that they routinely stole cash from GPNB's vault or teller drawers, and they created false vault balancing sheets to conceal the missing cash. In October 2016, GPNB officials discovered that the vault and a teller drawer were missing $427,632.90. Jackson stopped working at GPNB in April 2016; Vinson and Stevenson were still employees of the bank when the cash shortage was discovered.

Yesterday, United States District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange sentenced Vinson and Stevenson each to 18 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Judge Miles-LaGrange sentenced Jackson to one year and one day in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release. In addition, the defendants were ordered to pay restitution to GPNB and an insurance company. Vinson was ordered to pay $317,432.90 in restitution, and Stevenson was ordered to pay $247,432.90 in restitution. Jackson was ordered to pay $157,432.90 in restitution. Judge Miles-LaGrange ordered $147,432.90 of each defendant's restitution amount to be joint and several with the other defendants.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris M. Stephens prosecuted the case.

Updated January 26, 2018