Former Central Coast bookkeeper Ginger Lee Mankins, 56, of Arroyo Grande has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison for her guilty plea to six counts of felony embezzlement.
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow made the announcement Wednesday.
Mankins admitted that her crimes involved the theft of more than $500,000. She is also ordered to repay the money she stole in an amount to be determined by the court at a hearing set for January 12, 2022.
At Wednesday's sentencing hearing, Jill Machado described her 20-year relationship with Mankins as being closely personal in nature and noted the damage inflicted by the defendant was not "just financial", but "calculated deliberate, drawn out over a long period of time and extremely impactful on our lives." In imposing the 10-year prison sentence, Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn Duffy described the impact of Mankins' actions as a "tremendous loss and violation of trust."
The money was taken while she was working as a bookkeeper for Rick Machado Livestock from 2007 to 2017 and B&D Farms from 2008 to 2017.
