News Story - Idaho State Journal

POCATELLO -- The second of three women involved in a scheme to embezzle funds from Idaho State University's dental program was sentenced Thursday for her involvement.

Dianne Gilbert, 43, a dental assistant at Pocatello Family Dentistry, was originally charged with accessory to grand theft. The charge was reduced to two counts of misdemeanor theft as part of a plea agreement.

Gilbert was sentenced by Sixth District Judge Peter D. McDermott Thursday afternoon to two year's probation. She was also ordered to pay restitution in excess of $3,000 and perform community service.

Gilbert's sentencing came one day after that of Sabra Knight, 35, who pleaded guilty to identical charges. Knight was also employed by Pocatello Family Dentistry as a dental assistant.

The incident apparently unfolded after Gilbert and Knight loaned money to Marlene Funk, 57, an administrative assistant in the Department of Dental Sciences at ISU.

Investigators said Funk initiated the scheme where fraudulent time sheets were submitted, resulting in payroll checks in excess of true earnings being issued to Gilbert and Knight. Gilbert hinted in District Court Monday that the loans enabled Funk to cover gambling debts, that she was unable to repay the loans, and devised the time sheet scheme.

Funk entered her guilty plea Nov. 10 to felony grand theft by embezzlement. Her sentencing is set for Jan. 5.

This document was originally published online on Thursday, December 18, 2008

Article Rating

Reader Comments

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of our paper.

Submit a Comment

Commenting Rules

We encourage your feedback and dialog. All comments are subject to deletion by our Web staff.

Report a Comment

Report a comment for review to the ISJ web staff.