A bookkeeper who embezzled nearly $200,000 from a medical provider at Lake Sumter Landing has received a lighter sentence under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Valentina Yvonne Lavender, 64, was arrested last year on felony charges of fraud and grand theft after she diverted $198,806 into her bank account while she was working as a bookkeeper and payroll administrator at Florida Musculoskeletal Institute at 910 Old Camp Road.
Her lawyer, Nicholas Stack, in a court filing argued his client suffers from Multiple Sclerosis. She also has high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Stack said those medical conditions qualified Lavender for certain sentencing considerations.
“She has a stable home life and has been married for 45 years,” Stack wrote. “Mrs. Lavender is sincerely remorseful.”
He said that after the missing money was discovered and before law enforcement was called, Lavender offered to pay the money back out of her 401k.
The head of the practice, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Carl Ollivierre, had discovered direct deposits to Lavender he found to be suspicious. Lavender admitted to taking the money and she was fired. A review of the bank statements showed that Lavender made “multiple” direct deposits to her bank account. She attempted to cover her tracks by later altering the transactions.
Earlier this month in Sumter County Court, Lavender was sentenced to two years of community control to be followed by 15 years of probation after pleading no contest to the charges.