KY employee who stole $45,000 from special-needs children program sentenced to prison
A former state employee charged with stealing nearly $45,000 from a program set up to help families of children with special health needs has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison.
Diana L. Baker also will be under court-ordered supervision for three years after she is released, with six months of that on home detention, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Robert M. Duncan Jr.
U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove sentenced Baker Thursday in federal court in Frankfort. She had pleaded guilty after initially being charged with theft, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Baker, 53, of Louisville, worked for 28 years at the Kentucky Office for Children with Special Health Needs, and was a branch manager by the end of her career, according to court records.
Between 2007 and 2018, Baker used her access to the computer system to generate vouchers that supposedly went to reimburse families of special-needs children for expenses or to pay third parties for services provided to families, but Baker actually used the money for herself, according Duncan.
Baker paid credit-card charges and bills from doctors and dentists and, in one case, used stolen money to pay a carpenter for work on a dock at lake property she owned, according to Duncan’s office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth R. Taylor argued in a sentencing memorandum that Baker’s penalty should be significant enough to deter other potential crimes.
“Other employees of state government who have been entrusted with the handling and care of state money and resources must realize that there are serious consequences arising from embezzlement or misappropriation of those resources,” Taylor wrote.
This story was originally published June 12, 2020 at 8:30 AM.
