Evansville woman pleads guilty in $1.8 million embezzlement case

EVANSVILLE – An Evansville woman orchestrated a years-long financial fraud scheme that netted her employer more than $1.8 million; it’s a corruption so brazen and well-documented that he filed a motion to plead guilty the day he was indicted.

On November 6, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana unsealed a six-count indictment charging Marcie J. Doty with exploiting her position as a manager at an unnamed business in Evansville to commit wire fraud and tax crimes.

That same day, Doty filed a motion to plead guilty to the charges, according to legal records. Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum that Doty took “personal responsibility” for his crimes.

Evansville-based attorney Barry Blackard, who served as Doty’s legal counsel along with attorney Dennis Brinkmeyer, did not comment on the case when reached by phone Monday evening.

While a jury trial that could reveal the inner workings of Doty’s scam to the public now seems unlikely, court records shed light on what prosecutors say was his years-long effort to steal his employer’s money.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew B. Miller, Doty made approximately 100 unauthorized checks and money transfers in the name of the unnamed business in Evansville between 2017 and 2022; these transactions left a trail of records in financial institutions.

Prosecutors accused Doty of stealing a total of approximately $1,803,466 by depositing unauthorized checks and transfers into personal bank accounts at German American Bank and Evansville Federal Credit Union.

“As an example, on or about February 5, 2021, Doty issued an unauthorized check to himself in the amount of $10,059.30,” Miller wrote in his complaint. “Doty deposited the check into his account at German American Bank the same day.”

Prosecutors explained that, as required by banking regulations, the German American sent an image of the check and data about the transaction to the Federal Reserve Bank as part of the check clearing process.

Accounting software used by Doty’s employer also recorded the thefts, according to Miller. But prosecutors said Doty falsified data he entered into the software to cover his tracks and labeled unauthorized transfers as business expenses.

Doty pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with the Feb. 5, 2021 transaction. Doty’s remaining charges stem from what Miller described as his “intentional” failure to report ill-gotten gains on his federal tax returns.

According to the complaint, Doty failed to report approximately $786,280 in income between 2018 and 2020. A legal filing says he hid more than $1 million in taxable income by not filing tax returns for the next two years.

Doty pleaded guilty to three counts of filing a false tax return and two counts of failing to file a tax return. The government will seek an order to recoup the approximately $1.8 million Doty will have to repay according to a court-imposed schedule. Additionally, Doty agreed to pay $577,324 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

Prosecutors wrote that if Doty is unable to pay his debt, the government “may take any action necessary to collect the maximum amount of compensation as quickly as possible.”

The maximum possible sentence for wire fraud is 20 years in prison, but prosecutors are advocating a much shorter term. Under Doty’s plea agreement, he faces a recommended sentence of 41 to 51 months.

Because of Doty’s quick plea of guilty, prosecutors recommended that he receive a sentence “at the low end of the guideline range” provided he did not commit a new crime or violate the terms of his pretrial release.

Judge Richard L. Young will sentence Doty during a hearing that has not yet been scheduled. Federal judges have broad discretion to sentence defendants as they see fit and are not required to follow prosecutors’ recommendations.

The U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services System conducts pre-sentence investigations to help judges determine appropriate sentences.

Houston Harwood covers criminal justice issues for the Courier & Press and reports on the people, policies and cases that shape our legal system. reach out to him [email protected].

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