CONCORD, N.H. — A “greedy, serial fraudster” who stole nearly $500,000 from her former employer and used the money to purchase “lavish” tickets to watch Tom Brady return to Gillette Stadium to play against the Patriots in 2021 as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has been sentenced to prison.
Stephanie Pratt, 39, formerly of Keene, New Hampshire, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to 30 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release after she pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, according to New Hampshire U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young.
In addition to purchasing the highly-sought after Brady tickets, Young said Pratt bought herself a hot tub, plane tickets, rare herbs and spices, and $50,000 worth of Amazon products.
“The defendant used her position of trust as an employee to steal nearly a half-million dollars from a small New Hampshire business. Among other items, she used the stolen money to purchase a hot tub and she spent over $5,600 on lavish tickets to watch Tom Brady’s return to Gillette Stadium,” Young said in a statement.
Young noted that Pratt was a known swindler with a “bold” criminal record, as she began her fraud in this case only six months after serving a sentence for stealing $10,000 from her previous employer.
“Stephanie Pratt is a greedy, serial fraudster who is being sent to prison for defrauding her employer and siphoning almost half a million dollars to live well beyond her means,” Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division, said in a statement. “Today’s sentence holds Ms. Pratt responsible for her clear disdain for the law and shows how the FBI will not hesitate to go after those who victimize others for their own financial gain.”
Pratt was the office administrator for a company based in Hinsdale and she had full access to the company’s finances, including its bank accounts and credit cards.
Prosecutors said Pratt swiped $492,325.34 over a span of six-and-a-half years.
Pratt cashed unauthorized checks to herself and entered them as payments to legitimate vendors in the company’s accounting system, according to prosecutors. She also used the company’s credit cards to make over 1,000 unauthorized personal purchases.
When confronted about the stealing, prosecutors said Pratt repeatedly lied, claiming that the owner of the company had her cash the checks to funnel the money to the owner’s son, who unbeknownst to her, had already passed away.
Prosecutors said Pratt routinely edited the company’s credit card statements to delete unauthorized purchases and claimed that her misuse of the company credit cards was attributable to her “clicking the wrong button at checkout,” despite that happening more than 1,000 times.
Pratt even dared to ask the company to pay her a Christmas bonus after she was fired.
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