MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Stealing more than $200,000 in tenant rent payments is sending an Albert Lea woman to federal prison.
Marcie Marie Thumann was sentenced in U.S. District Court Thursday to one year and one day behind bars, followed by three years of supervised release. Thumann was also ordered to pay $213,217 in restitution.
Thumann pleaded guilty in October 2022 to one count of theft from a program receiving federal funds. She was accused of stealing the money while working as a bookkeeper for the Albert Lea Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) between January 2010 and July 2018.
HRA computer systems generate a rent-due balance for each tenant at the beginning of each Monday. Thuman received the tenants’ rent payments via cash, check, or money order and was responsible for recording and reconciling payments to the HRA.
Federal investigators say Thumann embezzled HRA rent payments for her own personal use by pocketing cash payments and altering the payee information on payments made by check and money order. She was also accused of manipulating the HRA’s computer system to conceal the money she stole and avoid detection.
