A Bluffton woman received a lengthy prison sentence and owes $240,877 in restitution Tuesday after being found guilty of stealing while working as a bookkeeper at a local drywall sales and installation company.
Lora Mae Lewis, 69, was found guilty of breach of trust with fraudulent intent. Circuit Court Judge Carmen Mullen handed down the sentence Tuesday after a Beaufort County Courthouse jury trial.
Lewis was sentenced to 10 years in prison, reduced to eight years in prison and five years on probation if she repays $240,877 in restitution.
According to a press release from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, Lewis printed and deposited checks from her company’s account to her personal account from March 2016 to November 2018, forging the owner’s name to do so.
“As someone who managed this family-owned company’s checking accounts, she was in a position of trust,” -prosecutor Francine Norz said in the release. “She repeatedly broke that trust for her own gain and to the detriment of a small business.”
Lewis had been convicted of breach of trust over $10,000 in 2009 and had been put on probation.
When we publish mugshots
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette publishes police booking photos, or mugshots, in the following instances:
In situations where a public figure or someone in a position of public trust is arrested
In cases where there is an immediate and widespread threat to public safety
In cases where the arrested person is accused of a crime reporters have evidence to believe involved numerous, unknown victims
Reporters will avoid using mugshots as lead images for online articles in order to limit their circulation on social media, except in cases where the public is served by the immediate identification of the accused. Reporters and editors may use discretion in situations that don’t meet the criteria outlined in this policy but still present a compelling reason to publish a mugshot.
Rachel Jones covers education for the Island Packet and the Beaufort Gazette. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has worked for the Daily Tar Heel and Charlotte Observer. She has won awards from the South Carolina Press Association, Associated College Press and North Carolina College Media Association for feature writing and education reporting.
