State Dept Employee Gets 12 Months for $650K Embezzlement Linked to Gambling

An ex-US State Department employee has been sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison after Judge Christopher R. Cooper found her guilty of embezzling more than $650,000 from the institution to fuel her gambling activities.

Despite the defense citing addiction as the reason why Levita Almuete Ferrer misappropriated the money, she will have to serve her full sentence and pay back the $657,347.50 she used to gamble.

However, her willingness to cooperate mollified the court, handing down a lighter sentence in the end.

H2: Career Professional at State Department Sentenced over $650K Embezzlement

Apart from paying the restitution to the government, she will also have to refrain from visiting and gambling at casinos. Details about the case were released by the US Department of Justice and special agent in charge, Benjamin Brockschmidt.

According to investigators and the officially presented information, Ferrer worked as a Senior Budget Analyst in the State Department’s Office of the Chief of Protocol and had access to funds that she could siphon to private accounts, which she did.

The embezzlement occurred between March 2022 and April 2024, with Ferrer issuing 60 checks to herself and three checks to another unnamed party with whom she was involved. Ferrer pled guilty to the charges against her and has received a lighter sentence as a result, telling investigators and the court how she arrived at pulling off the scheme.

She used a common QuickBooks account at the US State Department to issue the checks, but altered records so not immediately show her as the person receiving the money.

Everything Was Fine in the Accounting Software at First Blush

Ferrer entered herself as the payee in a State Department QuickBooks account, printed the checks, and then altered the payee in QuickBooks to a legitimate vendor so that her name would not appear on the records unless an audit trail was accessed

Ferrer’s gambling addiction should not be viewed as the sole reason why she acted on her impulses, but the defendant has shown serious gambling-related problems. On the same day that she pled guilty, Ferrer made her way back to the MGM National Harbor casino, and she returned to the MGM a week later to continue gambling on high-limit slot machines.

Judge Cooper was forced to order Ferrer to be detained pending her sentencing. While the case is serious and the damage done to the US State Department is inexcusable, Ferrer’s case showcases the seriousness of gambling addiction and how it can impact career professionals with otherwise unblemished records who would go to damning personal and financial lengths to fuel their addiction irrationally.