Former senior center director to be sentenced for embezzlement

By Bryon Glathar Herald Managing Editor
Posted 12/17/18

Blakeman, former director of Senior Citizens, to be sentenced for embezzlement.

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Former senior center director to be sentenced for embezzlement

Posted

EVANSTON — A former director of Uinta Senior Citizens, Inc., which operates the senior centers in Evanston and the Bridger Valley, is scheduled to be sentenced in Cheyenne on Jan. 3, 2019, for misusing public funds.

Sarah Kristina Blakeman pleaded guilty on Oct. 4, to theft from an organization receiving federal funds. According to a federal indictment, Blakeman “knowingly and unlawfully embezzled and intentionally misapplied property worth at least $5,000 that was in the care, custody or control of Uinta Senior Citizens, Inc.” between the dates of July 23, 2013, and March 31, 2016.

Blakeman was the director of the organization for 15 years before the board voted to remove her from her active role on Feb. 10, 2016, then fired her shortly after.

Blakeman could receive zero to 10 years imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine — or both — along with up to three years supervised probation and a $100 special assessment.

Details of the crime have not been made public, but Mark Trimble, spokesman for the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Wyoming, said that once the case is fully resolved, court documents that detail the incident are likely to be unsealed.

Blakeman was scheduled to be sentenced this Thursday, but her attorney, Tracy Hucke, an assistant federal public defender, filed a motion to postpone the sentencing. According to the motion, which United States District Judge Nancy Freudenthal approved on Dec. 4, Blakeman’s wife is scheduled to have “unexpected but necessary” surgery on Wednesday. In the filing, Blakeman said she would like the extra time so she can assist her wife while she recovers.

Blakeman could potentially face other charges once the federal case is resolved. Uinta County Attorney Loretta Howieson-Kallas said after Blakeman was indicted