MEDFORD, Ore. – A former bookkeeper pleaded guilty to stealing money from both her former employer and mother and is soon heading to prison.
Anne Marie Knifong stole more than $500,000 from California Oregon Broadcasting, Incorporated. That’s the parent company for this station, KOBI-TV NBC5.
She also stole from her mother who was in an assisted living facility suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
On December 5, 2019, Knifong was sentenced to 24 months in prison. She was also ordered to pay $536,000 in restitution.
Knifong pleaded guilty to all three counts, criminal mistreatment, aggravated theft, and aggravated identity theft.
Because Knifong doesn’t have a criminal record, the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office said she normally wouldn’t be facing a prison sentence. But, because of the significant amount of money she stole, the judge gave Knifong a harsher sentence.
Deputy District Attorney Zori Cook explained, “It was a 20-year relationship between KOBI and the defendant and that really did affect everyone who worked at the news station quite deeply.”
Because of the statute of limitations, the D.A.’s office said they were only able to go back to incidents happening since May of 2012. But they know more incidents happened before that where Knifong stole close to $250,000.
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