A 41-year-old woman is facing up to two decades in federal prison after pleading guilty to eight counts of wire fraud in connection with the theft of over $600,000 from an alternative school in Ocala.
On Tuesday, December 12, United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that Danielle Jane Liles has pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud. She faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the eight counts.
In addition, Liles will be ordered to forfeit $616,793.43, which represents the “proceeds of her offenses.”
According to court records, between January 11, 2016, and April 10, 2023, Liles devised a scheme to defraud Silver River Mentoring & Instruction, a nonprofit organization that provides mentoring and education to at-risk children in Marion and Citrus counties.
The arrest report stated that on April 24, 2023, an Ocala Police Department detective made contact with the executive director of Silver River Mentoring & Instruction who advised that the organization’s business manager in charge of payroll, Liles, had admitted to fraud due to an upcoming financial audit.
During a financial review with the school’s executive staff on April 21, 2023, Liles admitted that the “books were going to be off” due to extra paychecks that she had given herself since 2016. She further stated that she stole the money because she “became addicted to it,” according to the arrest report.
Court records show that Liles had a total of 137 unauthorized paychecks issued in her name by logging false information into Silver River Mentoring & Instruction’s accounting software. She then received these paychecks through Automated Clearinghouse Services wire transfers directly into her bank account.
On May 2, 2023, Liles arrived at Marion County Jail to turn herself in, and she was placed under arrest for organized fraud (more than $50,000). She was later released from the jail on $25,000 bond.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Education – Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk.
A sentencing hearing for Liles has not yet been scheduled.