Prison for Embezzler Who Swiped Court Fees

SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) - The former controller of a company that provides supervision services to criminal courts and probation departments will spend 37 months in federal prison for embezzling $3.3 million from his former employer, the Justice Department said Monday.

Steven Hagstrom, 38, was an accountant and then controller of Irvine-based Sentinel Offender Systems, which processes fines, court fees and restitution payments from criminal defendants and does electronic monitoring for probation departments.

As controller, Hagstrom had access to payments held in trust from criminal defendants. Between 2012 and 2013, he transferred more than $3.3 million from Sentinel's accounts to his own.

Following an FBI investigation, Hagstrom pleaded guilty in 2014 to a single count of embezzlement.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge David Carter sentenced the man to 37 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay just over $2.1 million in restitution - a reduced figure since Sentinel has recovered some of the embezzled funds.

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