Man sentenced to 6 months home confinement for embezzling nearly $110,000 from employer

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A man was sentenced to six months of home electronic monitoring on Tuesday after pleading guilty to stealing nearly $110,000 from his employer.

According to officials, 43-year-old Jeffrey Lynn Stewart, who was responsible for requisition of healthcare supplies at his job, began placing unauthorized orders for items such as cameras and a garage organizer.

Coworkers of Stewart began noticing the packages being delivered to the business in March of 2019, leading them to look up the packages by the requisition number. Stewart’s manager was also able to find additional items ordered from business vendors that were not relevant to their needs in Stewart’s desk.

After pulling records of all of Stewart’s purchases, it was found he charged nearly $110,000 to his employer’s account between Aug. 2017 and March 2019.

Once confronted, Stewart admitted to buying many of the items for himself and was subsequently fired.

The Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office was able to secure indictments against Stewart for five counts of felony embezzlement in May of 2023.

Stewart entered a plea deal on Tuesday, May 7, where he agreed to plead guilty to three counts of felony embezzlement, pay $50,000 in restitution immediately to his former employer and serve six months on home confinement and work to pay the remainder of the restitution.

“Businesses who choose to operate in Norfolk deserve our protection from being crime victims. If a business operates in Norfolk, and if their employees abuse their trust, my office and I will prosecute the employee and hole them accountable,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi said. “Had Mr. Stewart not worked up front to make his employer whole, we would have argued for him to go to prison. We all deserve one justice system for all of our citizens, an we will continue to prosecute not just people who steal with guns but people who steal with pens and keyboards.”

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