Woman receives 12 years for stealing from employer

Moran, 48, of Odenton, was sentenced to 12 years in prison Thursday for embezzling $522,000 while working as an office manager for a government contractor, the Monterey Bay Corp., between January 2003 and September 2005.

She will be eligible for parole in three years.

Company owners Stephen and Rachel Rosa trusted Moran as the sole employee of their Ellicott City office when they opened a new office in Columbia.

Prosecutor Lynn Marshall had asked Howard Circuit Judge Diane Leasure to sentence Moran to 12 to 15 years in prison.

Moran, who has no previous criminal record, pleaded guilty in March to two felony theft scheme charges, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

As part of the plea agreement, Marshall considered reducing the sentence recommendation if Moran made full restitution, but the money was never paid back.

“A company’s capital is its lifeblood, and ours was sucked out intentionally through lies and falsehoods,” Stephen Rosa wrote in a statement.

“We have lost faith that people can be trusted at their word and this has made it hard for us to consider reconstituting the company.”

As a result of Moran’s looting, the Rosas shut down the company and relocated to Nevada, according to prosecutors.

Moran forged Stephen Rosa’s name on 122 checks she wrote to herself, spending thousands on living expenses, horses, cars, vacations and furniture, Marshall said. She also converted $250,000 of the stolen money into cash.

Moran stole $51,572 within one month in December 2004, including a $5,000 forged check on which she wished herself a “Merry Christmas” in the memo line, according to court records.

Defense attorney V. Peter Markuski Jr. did not immediately return a call for comment.

cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com