New Mexico’s U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake recently sentenced former New Mexico school district employee Kristy Stock on grand theft charges after stealing iPods intended for children and reselling them for profit.
U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Kristy Stock, 46, to 18 months in federal prison for federal charges of interstate transportation of stolen goods and tax fraud. That would be followed by three years of supervised release, according to KRQE.
The former official worked for the Central Consolidated School district in San Juan County, where she led a program in charge of distributing iPods to children who lived in New Mexico tribal communities.
Details of the stealing scheme came to light after the Four Corners woman confessed to the crime, admitting her involvement in stealing more than 3,000 iPods, purchased by the school district, between the years 2013 to 2018. Stock used federal funds to purchase the iPods in bulk multiple times a year, ranging from 100 to 250 units per order. After acquiring the devices intended for the students, Stock would then sell them on eBay for a personal profit. The items were shipped and stored at a relative’s house in Maryland.
Her plea agreement states that she earned a profit of $800,000 from the sale of the iPods, collectively worth over $1 million, retrieving the money through Paypal, KRQE reported.
According to court documents, Stock also admitted to filing false tax returns over the span of five years, until 2017. The tax filings failed to reflect the income she earned, costing the U.S. $270,821.
