Defendant
Conspired to Defraud Farmers Insurance Agency of More Than $140,000
LAS CRUCES—Earlier today, Deniece
Sanchez, 34, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, was sentenced to 12 months and a day in
prison for conspiracy to launder money. Sanchez will be on supervised release
for three years after she completes her prison term. She also was ordered to
pay $144,494.27 in restitution to Farmers Insurance Agency (Farmers). Sanchez,
who has been on conditions of release since her arrest on July 13, 2010, is
required to surrender herself to a federal correctional institution to be
designated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons for service of her sentence.
According to court records, between
March 9, 2007 and August 19, 2009, Sanchez and her now-estranged husband,
Joseph Reyes Montes, 39, also of Las Cruces, conspired to submit fraudulent
insurance claims to Farmers on more than 30 separate occasions. Montes, who was
then employed as a claims supervisor for Farmers, laundered the stolen money
through Sanchez’ business bank account to give the funds the appearance of
legitimate business income, rather than illegal proceeds of the scheme to
defraud Farmers.
U.S. Kenneth J. Gonzales said that
Sanchez pled guilty to an information charging her with conspiracy to launder
money on October 14, 2010. On July 28, 2011, Montes, who also pled guilty to
conspiracy to launder money, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison
and ordered to pay $149,779 in restitution to Farmers.
The case was investigated by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation
and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea W. Hattan.
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