Former Citizens National Bank officer serving federal sentence for theft – News – Brownwood Bulletin

A former bank officer at Citizens National Bank in Brownwood who admitted to embezzling just under $1.86 million is serving a 51-month federal sentence, court documents from U.S. District Court in San Angelo show.

Dawn Bennett, 44, of Bangs, admitted to gambling with embezzled funds at Oklahoma casinos and was ordered to pay $1,859,915 in restitution, court documents state.

Bennett was sentenced on Oct. 4 by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman. Bennett pleaded guilty on May 30 to engaging in a monetary transaction with property derived from a specified unlawful activity, court documents state.

The guilty plea stemmed from Bennett’s visit on July 12, 2018 to the WinStar Casino, an Indian gaming operation, where she inserted $58,185 in slot machines, court documents state.

Bennett “admits and agrees that each bet at the WinStar Casino” on that date was made with funds she embezzled from Citizens National Bank and concealed through false entries in the books, court documents state.

Bennett — who was hired as a Bangs High School junior and worked at the bank for more than 20 years — admitted embezzling the larger amount of nearly $1.86 million from the bank’s drive-through vault from 2015 though 2018, court documents state. Bennett admitted to making false statements in the bank’s books and records to conceal the embezzlement.

Bennett was arrested in September 2018 on a state theft charge and booked into the Brown County Jail. She was freed on $150,000 bond….