Woman: I Stole Money to Pay My Restitution

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A Greenville woman who admitted she was stealing money in part to pay restitution in two previous embezzlement cases was sentenced to 12 years in prison Wednesday.

Ramona Obera Tucker, 52, was the office manager of a local business. She would take company checks meant to pay invoices, obtain a certified check from Bank of America, then convert those checks to her own use, U.S. Attorney Johnny Gasser said in a news release.

Tucker has been convicted twice before of embezzlement in 1997 and 1998 and was using some of the money she took to pay restitution in those cases, Gasser said.

U.S. District Judge Henry M. Herlong Jr. said he punished Tucker harshly because it was the only was to safeguard businesses from a repeat offender.

Tucker pleaded guilty before Herlong in October, and the judge also presided over Tucker's two previous embezzlement convictions.