A Waterloo woman has been sentenced to prison time for stealing more than a quarter of a million dollars from her employer over the course of two years, according to the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. 57 year old Teresa Chiappone used her position as the office manager at Benton Sand and Gravel in Cedar Falls to write over $160,000 worth of unauthorized checks to herself, disguised as payments to vendors. She also intercepted $50,000 in cash deposits and made over $3,000 in credit card charges. Officials say Chiappone had a significant gambling addiction and spent most of the money at casinos around Iowa. The business had to take out a loan to cover its losses. Chiappone was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $250,000 in restitution.
