Indiana County District Attorney Bob Manzi yesterday announced that 64-year-old Sandra Doak of Blairsville has been sentenced to serve 80 months in federal prison for stealing more than half-a-million dollars from the medical practice for which she worked.
Doak will serve 42 months for mail fraud and 38 months for tax fraud. The sentence was handed down by Judge Cathy Bissoon in the Western District of Pennsylvania Federal Court.
Doak’s employer discovered the thefts during the early stages of the covid pandemic in 2020. It was reported to State Police and the District Attorney, who launched an investigation led by Trooper Phil Dern. Retracing Doak’s activities by comparing bank and credit card records with the office’s official records, Trooper Dern confronted Doak with the evidence, and she admitted the decade-long scheme.
Doak stole $592,833 in checks she wrote to herself and concealed the embezzlement on her tax returns, costing the IRS $123,849.
Manzi decided to prosecute Doak in federal court because she would face stiffer penalties there than state law would allow. He said she would have faced incarceration for months at the state level but for multiple years at the federal level. He credited the partnership between his office, the State Police, the criminal investigative unit of the IRS, U.S. Postal Inspectors, and the U.S. Attorney’s office, and thanked especially Trooper Dern and Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Melucci.
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