An Orland woman was sentenced Friday to 16 months in federal prison for embezzling $142,000 from two eye care practices, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Carolyn J. Saunders, 57, will also be on three years of supervised release once she is released from prison and was ordered to pay restitution to the eye care center.

Saunders pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Bangor in September.

Authorities said Saunders stole cash from the bank deposits for Coastal Eye Care and Coastal Eye Surgery Center in Ellsworth from November 2011 to April 2015 while she was employed as the financial administrator for the practices.

At the sentencing, Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. admonished Saunders for spreading lies about the practice after being fired for the thefts. Woodcock said her statements were “deplorable and egregious” and that she stole the money because she was “fundamentally dishonest.”


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