Fresno, California - Sandi Marie Hollifield, 49, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to theft from a program receiving federal funds, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, Hollifield worked under contract at Galen College, a now-defunct vocational college in Fresno, as a bookkeeper. Beginning in September 2008, Hollifield embezzled money from Galen College by creating false invoices for supplies and charging Galen College for those supplies. These charges caused Galen College to issue checks paying the false invoices to Hollifield under the name of her fictitious business, “Total Business Forms.” Between September 15, 2008, and April 13, 2010, Hollifield deposited Galen College checks made payable to Total Business Forms totaling approximately $85,448.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Department of Education, Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Henry Z. Carbajal III is prosecuting the case.

Hollifield is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill on June 15, 2015. Hollifield faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.