Guilty plea includes six counts of embezzlement and theft exceeding $500,000
SAN LUIS OBISPO — District Attorney Dan Dow announced that Arroyo Grande resident Ginger Lee Mankins (DOB 11/30/1964) entered a guilty plea to six counts of embezzlement with an agreement that she will be sentenced to ten years in state prison. Mankins will also be ordered to repay the money she stole in an amount to be determined by the court at a future hearing.
In addition to the embezzlement counts, Mankins also admitted that her theft exceeded $500,000. She is set to be sentenced on Oct. 6, in Department 1 of the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, the Honorable Jacquelyn H. Duffy presiding.
“Theft committed by employees or friends in positions of trust are especially troubling, particularly when it involves staggering amounts of stolen funds over such an extended period of time,” said District Attorney Dan Dow. “Our Major Fraud Unit stands ready to aggressively prosecute these and other financial crimes.”
Court documents reflect that Mankins was a bookkeeper for Rick Machado Livestock from 2007 through 2017 and for B&D Farms from 2008 through 2017 and that she stole from these companies while working for them.
The case was investigated by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigations with the aid of the Arroyo Grande Police Department and was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Michael Frye assigned to the District Attorney’s Special Prosecutions Unit that includes both Major Fraud and Public Integrity.
