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Woman Gets Seven Year State Prison Sentence For Embezzling From Ventura County Theater Company

A Ventura County woman has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for embezzling more than $100,000 from a non-profit theater group.

Mary Marlene Urias worked as the office manager for Thousand Oaks based 5-Star Theatricals for nearly three years.  Ventura County prosecutors say the Oxnard woman manipulated the theater company’s accounting system to cover up the fact she had written more than $130,000 in fraudulent checks. 

She pled guilty to multiple criminal counts from the theft, including violating her probation terms from two previous embezzlement convictions. 

Urias also admitted to unemployment insurance fraud.  After she was fired when the thefts were discovered, she claimed she had been laid off due to lack of work, and received $7200 in unemployment insurance.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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