Bracken County Woman Sentenced to 36 Months for Theft by a Bank Employee and Aggravated Identity Theft

 COVINGTON, Ky.- A Brooksville, Ky., woman, Rebecca Teegarden, 58, was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday, to 36 months in prison, by U.S. District Judge David Bunning, for theft by a bank employee and aggravated identity theft.           

According to her plea agreement, Teegarden was a bank teller at the First National Bank of Brooksville.  Between 2013 and 2019, Teegarden admitted to repeatedly using customers’ names and account numbers to make miscellaneous debit cash withdrawals from the customers’ bank accounts, without the customers’ consent.  Teegarden held the cash in her teller drawer and later converted the money to her own use, by depositing it into her or her mother’s bank accounts.

In total, Teegarden admitted that she stole $79,086.00 from victims who were customers at the Bank. She further admitted that she selected the accounts of her victims because those customers were elderly and did not regularly monitor their accounts. 

Teegarden pleaded guilty in July 2020.

Under federal law, Teegarden must serve 85 percent of their prison sentence.  Upon her release, Teegarden will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for five years.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and James Robert Brown, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Louisville Field Office, made the announcement.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI.  The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Harris.

This case was prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Mission, focusing on identifying and prosecuting those who facilitate elder financial exploitation.  The initiative is carried out locally through the Kentucky Elder Justice Task Force.  Anyone who knows of someone who may be a victim of elder financial exploitation, is encouraged to contact law enforcement.