Mukilteo woman sentenced for embezzling from company

SEATTLE, Wash. — A former bookkeeper of a Mukilteo flooring company was sentenced to three years in prison today for embezzling from her company with the help of one of the co-owners.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the sentencing of Jodi Hamrick to four counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, and one count of conspiracy in the U.S. District Court in Seattle.

U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones said Hamrick “had a pattern and practice of defrauding employers… and continued her manipulation for personal gain.” Judge Jones also noted Hamrick “was motivated by pure greed. There was no justification, no hardship, no financial need.”

According to records filed in the case and testimony at trial, Hamrick conspired with David M. Gluth, the co-owner of Gluth Contract Flooring, to steal from the company and defraud the silent partner who had put up the money for the business.

In the jury trial, prosecutors detailed how Hamrick and Gluth carried out the scheme by embezzling more than $400,000 from the commercial flooring business. Between 2011 and 2016, Gluth and Hamrick raided the company accounts to pay for a variety of personal expenses.

The two defrauded financial institutions and their own company with false loans, forged signatures, forged documents, altered records, secret bank accounts, secret credit cards, false bookkeeping entries, and false statements in declarations and court filings. The evidence in the case included years of Skype instant messages between Hamrick and Gluth, showing the planning and execution of the fraud in detail.

The flooring company subsequently went bankrupt in 2016, and the victimized business partner was left with nothing but debt.

Gluth was charged in November 2020 and pleaded guilty in January 2021. He was sentenced in 2021 to two years in prison and agreed to a restitution figure of $325,000. Judge Jones will determine how much restitution Hamrick must pay at a hearing scheduled for June 21.

In imposing the sentence requested by prosecutors, Judge Jones highlighted the fact that Hamrick had stolen from an earlier employer but was not prosecuted for that theft. “You didn’t learn from it, you used it as an opportunity to get an advanced degree in theft.”

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