CEDAR RAPIDS – The former Vice President of Bartleson Masonry, Inc. in Forest City, who earlier pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $40,000 from an employee retirement plan, has been sentenced to probation and must pay restitution.
Anthony Bartleson, age 42 of Forest City, Iowa, was convicted of one count of embezzlement from an employee benefit plan.
In a plea agreement, Bartleson admitted that, while serving as the Vice President and Treasurer of Bartleson Masonry, Inc., he was responsible for withholding money from employees’ paychecks, which he was then supposed to forward to an investment company for deposit into each employee’s Individual Retirement Account. Bartleson further admitted that in 2006, 2007, and 2008, while he withheld money from employees’ paychecks, he did not forward that money to the investment company, but, instead, he used the money for his own benefit, the benefit of others, and to pay business expenses for Bartleson Masonry, Inc. Bartleson admitted he embezzled over $25,000 from the employee benefit plan by withholding money from paychecks and also admitted he embezzled more than $15,000 from the plan by failing to pay employer matching contributions to the benefit plan over the same time period.
United States District Court Judge Mark Bennett sentenced Bartleson to two years of probation and $20,838 in restitution.
