Pretty in Pink
Tina Mitchell was paid $900 a week to manage the books for her company, which helped run the homeowners associations for many condo projects in the Pensacola, Fla., area.
She also made $1,500 a week from her Mary Kay Cosmetics business. But she still kept her job with Montgomery Management Associates, in large part because she made more money from them -- tax free. How's that? Easy: she was cooking their books.
From 2006 through 2009, Mitchell embezzled $856,126 from the accounts of five HOAs. But hey, she wasn't completely greedy: she spent $40,000 to help various families pay their bills and mortgages. She also spent $300,000 to set up other people as Mary Kay consultants under her; success in her multi-level marketing "downline" helped her become a star with Mary Kay, even getting her the famed pink Cadillac from the company. But she wasn't all that successful: to make her Mary Kay quotas, she poured in $100,000 of the stolen cash.
"She robbed people of their lives," sobbed Susan Moody on the witness stand. The owner of Montgomery Management Associates, she said Mitchell "robbed people of their money." The owners of the condos in the five HOAs will have to repay the cash to pay for assessments, repairs, and other expenses. "These are people who may lose their homes," agreed one of the HOA officials.
Mitchell blamed bipolar disorder for her crimes. "In heights of the mania, I thought I was helping people. I didn't realize I was hurting people," Mitchell told the court. "I never realized how much money it was."
On March 15, Mitchell was sentenced to 30 years in prison; upon release, she must spend 30 more years on probation. A restitution order will likely never be fulfilled.
But hey: doesn't she just look marvelous?
Source: Pensacola News Journal
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Most Recent Comments
Posted by Bob in Illinois on March 27, 2010:
That's OK; you just have to remember that she will most likely only serve 15 years in prison. It's a day off for a day of good behavior. So if she is good in prison she will be out in 15 years. Then she can apply to Mary K for a complete make-over -- by then she’s going to need it.
Posted by King, Canada on March 27, 2010:
I really think 'lifestyle' sentences should be used for this type of crime. You have the 'lifestyle' imposed until restitution is made in full. Terms of the 'lifestyle' sentence would include...
i. You cannot ENTER a living space with fair market value above 100 Grand (GPS technology can easily monitor that today).
ii. You cannot ENTER a restaurant with anything on the menu above 20 bucks (even KFC has party buckets for more then that) (again GPS can monitor that fairly well).
iii. You are restricted to use public transit ONLY, and not allowed to cross state/(province for us Canadians) borders.
This gets around a lot of the loop-holes where funds are transferred to spouse, children and the crooks continue to live the good life.
Posted by Robert in Missouri on March 29, 2010:
They should take that pink Caddy, crush it, then dump the remains in her prison cell after presenting her with a video of it being crushed and a bill for the money it cost for crushing it. She could have bought a top-of-the-line Caddy for less than the amount she sent to Mary Kay to get that car.