Prison means 'thrill' is gone from embezzling
theday.com | 5/16/08 | Karen Florin
A former administrative assistant at Pfizer Inc. who told authorities she got a thrill from using company funds to purchase personal items will serve up to four months in prison for first-degree larceny. Hollis M. Rosendale, 49, of Niantic pleaded guilty Thursday to embezzling $130,000 from the company between 2003 and 2006. Rosendale had used a company-issued credit card to purchase products from retailers such as Victoria's Secret and Home Depot and for car rentals. She falsified travel and expense reports to cover the thefts.
She will be sentenced July 2 to five years in prison, suspended after four months served and five years' probation. The plea offer she accepted Thursday allows her attorney, Edward J. Leavitt III, to argue for a shorter prison term at sentencing.
Rosendale will be ordered to make restitution payments to the company during her five years of probation, according to prosecutor Lawrence J. Tytla. Typically, a judge orders the defendant to make monthly payments based on what she can afford. A spokeswoman for Pfizer declined to comment.
Rosendale worked for Adrian Otte, a company vice president, and was able to disguise her unauthorized purchases by logging into the company's expense-processing system under her supervisor's name and entering them as legitimate business expenses. The scheme was ultimately discovered because the amount of activity was excessive for an employee in her position.
A divorced mother of two, Rosendale suffers from depression and obsessive compulsive disorders, according to court records. After she was caught, she admitted that she bought items online and eagerly waited for the packages to arrive at her home. She said she“got a thrill” out of ordering the stuff.