Woman sentenced to 15-month term for theft of $88,000

A Vilonia woman who admitted embezzling $88,000 from Transco Lines Inc., a Russellville-based trucking company where she worked as a controller, and who is also facing a theft charge in Pulaski County, was sentenced Thursday by a federal judge to a year and three months behind bars.

In sentencing Gelia Melissa Ruple, 52, at the low end of the 15- to 21-month penalty range recommended by federal sentencing guidelines, U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright told Ruple that she will have to get a job when she is released and begins serving two years of supervised release, so she can repay $10,000 to the company and $78,000 to the insurance company for reimbursing the company.

But, Wright noted, “It’s probably best that you not obtain employment where you have access to somebody else’s money.”

Ruple admitted in April that when she worked for the company, which provides logistical services across the country, she used an electronic payment system to steal the funds between October 2014 and April 2015. She pleaded guilty April 5 to a single count of wire fraud, in exchange for the dismissal of 16 other wire-fraud counts.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jana Harris noted that it was “a fairly sophisticated scheme” that was carried out systematically over a period of time by a “trusted employee in a very sensitive position.”

Court documents show that Ruple, who was in charge of payroll, reactivated old payment processing accounts of former or current employees, then altered the account information so any funds issued to those accounts through a third-party payroll processing company would be loaded to a debit card and an account over which she had control. The trucking company then wired money to the processing company.

Ruple is to appear Monday in Pulaski County Circuit Court on charges of theft of property and fraudulent use of a credit card. According to charging documents filed Feb. 3, 2017, she took the money from the Arkansas Regional Organ Recovery Agency and was fired on March 24, 2016.

A Little Rock police report related to the theft from the organ recovery agency states that Alan Cochran, the president of the company, fired Ruple after learning that she had convictions for abuse of a corpse, filing false claims and Social Security fraud that hadn’t shown up on her background check before she was hired because they had occurred more than seven years earlier.

After her termination, discrepancies were found on her company credit card, leading to charges that she had made about $1,300 in unauthorized purchases between Feb. 22, 2016, and April 20, 2016, according to the report.

It said Cochran also discovered Ruple had opened a PayPal account and associated it with the company’s corporate office, enabling her to spend $4,957 of the company’s money on personal items — including a $400 withdrawal about 30 minutes after she was fired.

Police said Ruple also was suspected of stealing about $610 in petty cash that was kept in her office.

Attorney Molly Sullivan of the federal public defender’s office asked Wright to impose a probationary sentence in the federal case, noting that Ruple has mental-health problems including depression and suicidal ideation.

Harris noted that Ruple’s employment history indicates she has been paid “substantial salaries” of between $70,000 and $75,000 annually over a number of years, and that she was paid $100,000 annually at her last job.

“She was making $75,000 from this company, and yet she stole from them,” Harris said.

Wright, citing letters from Ruple and one of her sons, said she understood that Ruple has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and, “you say you were in a manic phase” when she stole the money.

Wright said that while Ruple’s mental illness might mitigate her crimes, a number of aggravating factors also had to be considered, including that she is now facing a similar charge in state court, and that she has very employable skills that have enabled her to make a lot of money legitimately.

“I would assume a manic state means you have difficulty controlling your impulses,” Wright said. “I do believe, however, that you understood the difference between right and wrong.”

A Nov. 14 psychological evaluation filed in Ruple’s circuit court case says she didn’t show any signs of suffering from a mental disease or defect but indicated she was depressed. The psychologist said Ruple reported having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the past and having experienced a history of “manic episodes,” but the diagnosis couldn’t be verified.

Ruple and her former assistant at Transco Lines, Rick Massey of Russellville, are also facing a lawsuit filed against them July 2 in Pope County Circuit Court by National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, which insures Transco Lines. Massey quit immediately after Ruple was fired, according to Pope County records.

The lawsuit alleges that Ruple and Massey together stole $108,794.36 from Transco. It says Massey pleaded guilty to a theft charge on March 14, 2016, in state court, for which he received a suspended four-year sentence and was ordered to repay $19,545.79 in restitution, which he has paid.

The lawsuit seeks $89,978.57, plus interest, costs and punitive damages, to reimburse it for the amount it has paid Transco for the thefts.