Former Credit Union Employee Admits Stealing Money from Texas Plains Federal Credit Union

AMARILLO, TXA former employee of Texas Plains Federal Credit Union, Shannon Leigh Layton, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson to making false entries by a credit union employee. Layton, 32, faces a maximum statutory sentence of 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine and restitution. A sentencing date was not set. According to plea documents filed in the case, Layton began stealing money from the credit union in 2002. Between 2002 and August 2009, she stole approximately $221,000 from the credit union. She admitted that she would steal the money from the vault and then alter the money count and other reconciliation records to conceal the thefts. Documents also reveal that in 2009, she was overcome with remorse and went to the Amarillo Police Department and confessed that she had been stealing money from the credit union. The case is being investigated by the FBI.