A former bookkeeper for an international adoption agency who stole more than $1.6 million from her employer and her own family was sentenced Wednesday to four and a half years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez said he considered that the fraud spanned about eight years and affected multiple victims. He said he also took into account the COVID-19 pandemic as a mitigating factor when deciding his sentence.
Melodie Ann Eckland, 56, of Hillsboro pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, filing a false tax return and willfully failing to collect or pay payroll taxes.
She was also ordered to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution.
The illegal scheme was discovered in March 2018, when one of the owners of the Journeys of the Heart adoption and surrogacy agency received a call from a Premier Community Bank representative inquiring about several business checks that had been presented for payment with a signature of the owner that appeared to be forged, according to prosecutors.
Eckland stole funds directly from the adoption agency’s business account at the bank by using the Journeys of the Heart computer to make unauthorized wire transfers to her personal U.S. Bank account and by writing unauthorized checks to herself, according to prosecutors.
She also transferred unauthorized funds via computer as “bonuses” from the adoption agency’s bank account to her own bank account.
To hide her fraud, Eckland maintained two separate QuickBooks files on the adoption agency’s computer.
To cover the money she had stolen, Eckland applied for loans from at least five lending agencies on behalf of the adoption agency, using the names of the agency’s owners without their permission. Eckland altered agency financial records to make it appear as though she owned the agency and was authorized to enter into the loan agreements. Beginning in 2016, Eckland stopped making the agency’s quarterly employment tax payments to the IRS and stopped filing employment tax returns. As a result, the agency owed more than $94,000 in past due employment taxes.
In a further attempt at a cover-up, she transferred $123,900 she stole from an account belonging to the estate of her deceased brother-in-law to the adoption agency’s bank account by forging her husband’s signature, according to prosecutors.
Eckland, who worked as the bookkeeper for the adoption agency from 2011 until April 2018, spent the money from her thefts on gifts and living expenses for her adult children, trips to Hawaii, Mexico and Disney World, event tickets, groceries, household item and living expenses, prosecutors said.
As part of the plea agreement, Eckland acknowledged that the amount of the loss she caused the adoption agency, the agency owners and the estate of her brother-in-law and the IRS exceeded $1,565,000.
“The crimes that Melodie Eckland committed reveal a stunning level of greediness, deceitfulness, and callousness towards her victims. Eckland repeatedly victimized the adoption agency and its owners over the course of seven long years, bleeding the non-profit of more than $1 million,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire M. Fay wrote in a sentencing memo.
“The owners of the adoption agency are devastated by defendant’s embezzlement and identity theft. They worked hard for 26 years to fulfill an important mission – helping children across the world find caring and loving families,” Fay wrote. “However, because of defendant’s theft, selfishness, and greed, the owners feel that they can no longer financially continue with the adoption agency.”
Eckland , a mother of two and grandmother of three, started stealing from her employer because she was heavily in debt and felt compelled to provide for her children and grandchildren, said defense lawyer Jamie Kilberg. She used the stolen money for her household expenses, retail expenses, family support, debt, some travel and repayment of stolen funds, Kilberg said.
Kilberg argued for a sentence of no more than three years, noting Eckland has no prior criminal record, is unlikely to commit future crimes, is full of remorse and working hard to repay her victims.
“In my quest to take the financial burdens of my family on my shoulders I wronged others,” Eckland wrote to the judge. “That is simply not okay and not the person I want to be. … I want to right my wrong, and I don’t feel as if I will be given that opportunity to do that if I am incarcerated... I promise to work every day to become a more honest, trustworthy person.”
Appearing by video for her remote sentencing hearing, she apologized to her former employers, saying she felt regret and shame for betraying their trust and stealing from them.
“I know better and should have done better,” she said.
