A Rohnert Park man pleaded no contest in Sonoma County Superior Court on Wednesday to embezzling money from the Petaluma company where he worked for 15 years.
John C. Sheehan, 43, pleaded no contest to grand theft, receiving stolen property and failing to include all of his income on his tax returns, Deputy District Attorney Amy Ariyoshi said.
The known loss to the company, Bibbero Systems Inc., was more than $1 million, Ariyoshi said.
Sheehan will be sentenced Nov. 20 to nine years and four months in prison as part of the plea agreement. He had faced more than 12 years in prison if he were convicted of the 14 felony counts that were originally filed against him.
Sheehan used at least $90,000 to make improvements to his home, including installing a pool and a Jacuzzi, Ariyoshi said.
He has agreed to return $50,000 to his former employer, Ariyoshi said. The company makes medical charts, color-coded folders and other business office supplies.
Sheehan will also surrender two Mercedes Benz cars, televisions, computers and Xbox game components to the company, Ariyoshi said.
Sheehan was the manager of information systems at Bibbero Systems Inc. The embezzlement occurred between 2006 and 2012.
Ariyoshi said Sheehan set up a fictitious company, MP Technologies, and phony vendors in 2006 and billed Bibbero Systems Inc. for office supplies that were never provided. Sheehan then cashed the checks in his name and used them for his home improvements and other personal needs.
The embezzlement came to light when an office manager questioned one of the invoices from MP Technologies, learned its phone number was disconnected and researched it on the Internet. She then learned that the company did not exist, according to Bibbero Systems president Michael Buckley.
"I dropped the ball. I didn't make sure all our systems were airtight," Buckley said after one of Sheehan's earlier court appearances.
Buckley said Bibbero Systems Inc. has been in business since 1953 and that he has been running the company since 1972.
The company once employed more than 100 employees but now has 70. The medical chart production business is down since medical records are now available online, Buckley said.
Sheehan was charged with one count of theft, seven counts of receiving stolen property and six counts of failing to include all of his income in his tax return.
-Bay City News
