On July 19, 2023, Heather Migliore pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in a federal court in Dubuque, Iowa. Migliore worked as an office manager for a tax preparation firm with offices in Waukon and Decorah.
At her plea hearing, Migliore admitted to defrauding her employer of at least $200,000 as part of a nearly 7-year scheme beginning in January 2015 and ending in November 2021. As office manager, Migliore had sole responsibility for the firm’s finances, which included payroll at both offices and paying business-related bills. As part of the scheme, she admitted to writing checks out to herself from the firm’s business accounts without the knowledge or authorization of the firm’s owner. To make it appear as though the checks were authorized, Migliore used the owner’s signature stamp. She would then cash the checks and deposit the proceeds into her personal bank account to pay her own personal expenses.
Migliore admitted to going a step further to conceal her efforts. As office manager, she had access to the firm’s electronic bookkeeping system. Migliore deleted the checks she wrote to herself from this system, hoping no one would discover them.
She also used the business’s credit cards to rack up over $20,000 in fraudulent charges.
Migliore is currently out on bond and awaiting sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.
Federal Wire Fraud
The federal wire fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, criminalizes the devising of (or the intent to devise) any scheme to defraud or to acquire money or property under false pretenses by use of some form of electronic communication (which can include wire, radio, television, internet, or even text messages) in interstate or foreign commerce.
Possible Penalties
As an offender now convicted under § 1343, Migliore faces up to 20 years in prison, fines up to $250,000, or both.
Sentencing in Federal Court
Before sentencing, U.S. Probation will prepare a presentence report. This report will include a substantial amount of information that will be considered by the judge at sentencing. The presentence report will include a calculation of what U.S. Probation believes are the applicable U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. The United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) publishes a federal sentencing Guidelines Manual in which an advisory sentence range for all federal offenses is listed.
Sentencing judges use the Guidelines to help determine the appropriate sentence for a defendant convicted of a given offense. Although judges remain bound by any mandatory sentences that apply, they may depart from the sentencing range by increasing or decreasing the base offense level penalty for a given offense. For each offense, the Guidelines list certain factors that can either enhance (increase) or mitigate (decrease) an offender’s ultimate sentence.
For wire fraud violations, §2B1.1 of the Guidelines applies. The base offense level for a § 1343 violation is 7, which provides a range of 0 to 21 months in federal prison, depending on the offender’s criminal history. In addition to an offender’s criminal history, certain characteristics of the specific offense can also increase the offense level—one of which is the loss amount. For instance, for a loss amount of more than $150,000, the base offense level is increased by 10. The resulting total offense level would then be 17, which increases the range of imprisonment to 24 to 63 months, again, depending on the criminal history. Higher loss amounts can trigger greater increases in offense level.
At the sentencing hearing, the sentencing judge will also consider the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors, including certain mitigating circumstances that may result in a lesser sentence.
Migliore’s ultimate sentence will be determined at the sentencing judge’s discretion after considering the presentence report, the advisory Guidelines range, and the § 3553(a) factors.
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