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A Bartlesville woman was sentenced on Wednesday in federal court for stealing $394,000 from her employer and submitting a false tax return.

U.S. District Judge Gregory K. Frizzell sentenced Gina Lisa Preble, 59, of Bartlesville, to 26 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for bank fraud and subscribing to a false tax return. The court further ordered Preble to pay $394,000 in restitution.

U.S. Attorney Trent Shores said Preble has had five fraud related convictions since 1981, and she has made a career out of white collar crime.

Preble was employed as a clerk at TransWood Carriers Incorporated from 2011 until her termination in 2017. In an effort to disguise her thefts, Preble created fraudulent “draft checks” which she mixed in with legitimate business expense “draft checks” in order to trick her supervisor into signing them. Preble deposited fraudulent draft checks totaling $394,058.20 into her personal checking account, and used the funds for her own personal gain. Additionally in 2016, Preble signed and submitted a false tax return, omitting the stolen funds as income.

The Financial Litigation Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma will pursue the restitution owed to the victim.

IRS-Criminal Investigation and the FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles M. McLoughlin prosecuted the case.