A former financial analyst for the Patent and Trademark Office has been sentenced to a year and a half in prison for stealing more than $500,000 from a government account.

A former claims manager for the Virginia Birth Injury Fund has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly embezzling more than $800,000.

A former employee of Danielle Steel who embezzled more than $400,000 from the romance novelist has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion.

A state program for disabled children has inadequate internal controls over millions of dollars in benefit expenditures, according to an audit released yesterday. The regular annual financial audit of the Virginia Birth-related Neurological Injury Compensation Program showed the agency has a “significant deficiency” in procedures for verifying expenses and delivered services.

A Norfolk man has been sentenced to six years and five months in prison for stealing millions from his brother-in-law’s game and trading-card company, where he managed the finances and computer systems.

A former employee of Virginia Commonwealth University Health System will serve five years in prison for embezzling $782,600. Charlotte Scott, 47, pleaded guilty in December to seven felony counts of embezzlement. Authorities say she used VCU funds to buy GRTC Transit System tickets and resell them at lower prices for her own profit. Richmond Circuit Judge Bradley B. Cavedo yesterday sentenced Scott to 70 years in prison, with all but five years suspended.

A former volunteer fire chief, his wife and son has been indicted on forgery and embezzlement charges by a Bedford County grand jury.

Like a lot of longtime employees at Waco Inc., a 400employee Henrico County construction firm, Sandra Lee Denis was considered beyond reproach. “She was a 22-year employee. Long-term like a lot of people here. We’re like family,“ said secretary-treasurer Jim Foege. The company operates throughout the mid-Atlantic states. Denis, 51, was in charge of accounts payable and kept tabs on about 50 employees who use company credit cards.

A former bookkeeper found guilty of embezzling from Shady Grove United Methodist Church in western Henrico County will spend a year behind bars, a judge ruled yesterday. Henrico Circuit Judge Burnett Miler III sentenced Lisa H. Pauley, 49, to 40 years but suspended all but 12 months on two convictions. Pauley could face more time when she appears in court June 24 for allegedly violating terms of probation on a suspended sentence from a 2003 theft from a realty firm.

After hearing a summary of evidence, Henrico County Circuit Judge L.A. Harris Jr. convicted Faye G. Barksdale, 48, of five counts of embezzlement stemming from a false-invoice and check-forgery scheme dating to 2003.

The owner of a defunct funeral service is facing years behind bars if convicted in Henrico County of bilking 19 customers of more than $60,000 in pre-need burial plans and other financial arrangements.

Fairfax County police say a former law-office administrator has been charged with stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the office. Police announced last week that 36-year-old Lisa Mylan McCormick of Sterling has been charged with four counts of felony embezzlement. Police say that after McCormick stopped working for lawyer Kevin Fitzpatrick, he discovered the thefts and reported them.

Woman guilty in swindle Ex-JetBlue terminal boss pleads to stealing $338,000 from airline The former manager of JetBlue Airways’ terminal operations in Richmond pleaded guilty yesterday to swindling the airline of more than $338,000. Investigators discovered $800 worth of pizza, $8,000 in sports club memberships for family members and their friends, $104,000 in travel expenses, $45,000 in clothing and the costs of a trip taken by the James River High School Robotics team.

A Newport News police detective is on administrative leave after being charged with embezzling from a fraternal group.

A former bookkeeper for an arts program at Shady Grove United Methodist Church in western Henrico County is facing up to 40 years in prison in June when she is sentenced on two embezzlement convictions. Henrico Circuit Judge Burnett Miller III found Lisa H. Pauley, 49, guilty yesterday of stealing nearly $1,000 through two checks she wrote on church accounts linked to an arts program at the church.