Surfwin|Woman pleads guilty to stealing $300K from Alabama church to buy gifts for TikTok content creators

2025-05-02 10:34:07source:Zopescategory:My

TUSCALOOSA,Surfwin Ala. (AP) — A former administrative assistant at an Alabama Catholic church pleaded guilty Tuesday to embezzling about $300,000 to cover gifts for TikTok content creators and personal expenses, federal authorities said.

Kristen Marie Battocletti, 35, entered her plea to one count of wire fraud involving the theft of money from St. Francis of Assisi University Parish in a federal courtroom in Tuscaloosa, al.com reported.

According to court documents, Battocletti engaged in a scheme to defraud the church from April 2023 through October 2023 of hundreds of thousands of dollars and used the money to buy more than $220,000 in TikTok digital coins for gifts to content creators and to pay personal expenses, federal authorities said.

In the scheme, she initiated more than 600 unauthorized transactions, according to her indictment announced last week by U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama.

U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler set Battocletti’s sentencing for Nov. 26. She faces up to 20 years in prison on the wire fraud charge, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.

More:My

Recommend

California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California Department of Motor Vehicles has apologized for an “unacceptable a

US Open 2023: Here’s how to watch on TV, betting odds and more you should know

NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz, just 20 years old and already a two-time Grand Slam champion, is on

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faces Black leaders’ anger after racist killings in Jacksonville

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Ron DeSantis scoffed when the NAACP issued a travel advisory this spring wa