Naperville woman gets 8 years for stealing from home builders
A DuPage County judge agreed that convicted embezzler Sonia Velazquez suffered an addiction.
But Circuit Judge Kathryn Creswell said it wasn't a drug and alcohol addiction that caused Velazquez to steal nearly $180,000 from two area home-building companies.
"The defendant is addicted to spending money that doesn't belong to her," Creswell said Friday at Velazquez's sentencing.
The 45-year-old Naperville woman received an eight-year prison sentence from Creswell after prosecutor Helen Kapas Erdman outlined a three-year history of corporate theft that culminated with Velazquez fleeing to Puerto Rico after being charged with the crimes.
"She was a one-man continuing financial crimes enterprise," Kapas Erdman said. "There's no history of drug or alcohol addiction. She was living the high life. It was champagne wishes and caviar dreams."
Wheaton police detective Dave Zdan provided lengthy details of Velazquez's spending habits, none of which matched that of any drug addict he'd encountered in 23 years as a lawman, he said.
When Zdan said he confronted Velazquez about her embezzling, she admitted to depositing company checks in her personal account to help pay for drug treatment for her heroin-addicted son. But his investigation revealed that less than $400 had been used to pay for any drug treatment.
Instead, Zdan said he and his partner, detective Steve Hamill, uncovered nearly $130,000 worth of ATM withdrawals, mostly from a machine near the Hollywood Casino in Aurora. The pair also uncovered cruises and shopping sprees paid for by Velazquez.
Zdan also described the woman's Naperville apartment as well-appointed with leather couches and other comforts.
"When we asked her where the money went, she threw up hands and said, 'Look at me. I live in squalor,'" Zdan testified. "I said to her she appeared to be living the high life."
Kapas Erdman argued that Velazquez was concocting the addictions to seek leniency at sentencing. Creswell agreed.
"The defendant did not steal money for drugs and alcohol," Creswell said. "It's significant that in the letter from (her boyfriend) he stated that she always puts the needs of everyone else in front of herself, which is not consistent with the behavior of an addict."
Velazquez pleaded with Creswell to give her probation and order addiction counseling as her punishment for her crimes. She also apologized to her former employers for stealing from them.
Wheaton-based Wiseman-Hughes Enterprises reported Velazquez's thefts in September 2006 when auditors uncovered nine missing check deposits totaling a little more than $21,000.
When Zdan subpoenaed Velazquez's bank records he noticed some other fishy deposits and discovered she also had stolen from her previous employer, Lennar Homes in Hoffman Estates. Those thefts occurred over nearly three years and totaled more than $150,000.
In all cases, Velazquez would take checks made out to other entities, write that name on the back of the check with her personal account number on it and deposit it at her bank's ATM at a grocery store in Aurora. Zdan said not one of the 71 stolen checks was ever challenged by the bank.