Crooked insurance agent sent to prison

A woman who stole more than $1 million from several persons while pretending to be employed as an insurance broker has been sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment at hard labour.

Deonne Wilson received the sentence in the St James Parish Court on Monday after pleading guilty to the charges of embezzlement, collecting money by false pretence, and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The facts are that between 2018 and 2021, Wilson collected payments on insurance policies from various customers but did not turn the funds over to employers. When asked to present her receipt book for an audit, she reported to the Freeport Police Station that the book was lost despite knowing this was not the case.

In addition, after she was dismissed from her job, Wilson continued to collect payments on insurance premiums while claiming to still be employed as an insurance broker.

During Wilson's sentencing hearing, her attorney, Suwayne Phillips, said she was sorry about her actions.

"As a result of COVID-19 pandemic, she was unemployed, and that led to her doing certain things, but she is remorseful of what she has done. Ms Wilson had tried to reimburse some of the funds, but it was rejected on the basis that they wanted everything back all at once," said Phillips, who also noted that Wilson had no prior convictions and had entered an early guilty plea.

However, presiding parish judge Kaysha Grant Pryce said Wilson was in a position of trust and took advantage of unsuspecting persons.

"This is a person who had the benefit of a stable family life, a good education, a history of employment, and established places in society. The COVID-19 pandemic, which is ongoing, cannot be deemed to give anybody impetus to steal from poor, hard-working, middle-class citizens of this country," Grant Pryce said sternly.

Wilson was subsequently sentenced to nine months' imprisonment for embezzlement and six months each for collecting money by false pretence and attempting to pervert the course of justice. The sentences will run concurrently, which means she will spend nine months behind bars.