Woman accused of stealing $334K from Baton Rouge business plans to plead guilty in federal court

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A woman accused of defrauding a small business in Baton Rouge has announced her intent to plead guilty. According to prosecutors, she embezzled hundreds of checks that totaled about $334,000 over several years.

Erin D. Jones was a part-time employee at a business that provides truck and diesel engine repair services, according to federal court documents. She announced her intent to plead guilty to the charge of wire fraud. The federal grand jury also posted a notice of forfeiture.

From around May 2019 to at least April 2024, Jones reportedly used her job's responsibilities to get funds and cover her trail. (The business was not named in the court documents.) Investigators said Jones used her access to the post office box to recover checks issued to the business and mailed to the company by its customers. She is accused of signing the checks and depositing them in her account.

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According to federal court documents, Jones used several methods to hide the theft, including using her access to the business's accounting program to delete the invoices that caused the business's customers and vendors to make payments. She also would destroy the physical checks to hide the transactions.

Jones took and fraudulently deposited around 431 checks payable to the business, which totaled around $334,000, according to information from investigators. She also caused several interstate wire transfers.

According to federal court documents, Jones must give up all property gained from the proceeds as part of her notice of forfeiture. She will forfeit any personal property of equal value if the property cannot be forfeited.