Associated Press
BELLINGHAM — A Bellingham man who admitted to embezzling nearly $300,000 from the owners of two area restaurants who employed him as a bookkeeper has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.
The Bellingham Herald reported 36-year-old Jonathan Emil Berry pleaded guilty to theft charges Thursday.
Court documents say Berry racked up thousands of dollars in unauthorized purchases on a restaurant company card. Investigators also found he forged 255 checks to benefit him, his wife and an anti-bullying nonprofit he ran.
The documents say Berry, who has no previous criminal record, had told authorities he felt pressured to buy things for his wife so she wouldn’t leave him.
In a letter to the court, Berry said he plans to pay full restitution.
He paid back $20,000 in April.
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