MUKILTEO — A former bookkeeper was sentenced Friday to three years in federal prison for defrauding a Mukilteo contract flooring company of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In January, a jury convicted Jodi Hamrick on four counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Seattle. From 2011 to 2016, Hamrick and David Gluth, the company’s co-owner, schemed to steal company funds for mortgages, vacations and Nordstrom bills, prosecutors alleged.
Gluth pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in 2021. A federal judge sentenced him to two years in prison and ordered him to pay $325,000 in restitution.
Federal prosecutors recommended three years for Hamrick. District Court Judge Richard Jones followed the recommendation Friday.
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“Although Gluth was the boss, Hamrick was an enthusiastic co-conspirator,” U.S. District Attorney Tessa Gorman wrote in court documents. “She takes no responsibility for her acts.”
Gluth and his business partner had opened the flooring company at 12201 Cyrus Way in May 2007, agreeing to be equal partners, court documents say. The agreement barred Gluth from making certain financial decisions without his partner’s approval.
In 2011, the company hired Hamrick as a bookkeeper, according to court documents. Gluth and Hamrick opened at least three bank accounts in the company’s name at Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Whidbey Island Bank, without telling the business partner.
For nearly six years, Gluth and Hamrick diverted company funds to these secret accounts, also using them to receive money and pay off unauthorized loans, charges say.
The defendants embezzled over $400,000 in diverted money for groceries, credit card bills, medical expenses, liquor, mortgage payments, vacations and clothing, according to the charges. In 2016, the company went bankrupt.
Defense attorney Gilbert Levy recommended a two-year sentence for Hamrick.
“There is a side of the defendant that is not reflected in the present charges,” Levy wrote. “She has a kind, loving relationship with friends and family members.”
Prior to being hired at Gluth, Hamrick also stole from a previous employer, but was never charged, Gorman wrote.
“You didn’t learn from it,” Judge Jones said in court. “You used it as an opportunity to get an advanced degree in theft.”
Maya Tizon: 425-339-3434; maya.tizon@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @mayatizon.
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