Today (Mar 22), Brevard Circuit Judge Nancy Maloney sentenced DEANNA  PARTON to 5 years in prison, 15 years of probation, and ordered her to repay more than $151,000 she stole from Medical Associates of Brevard while working as an office manager for Dr. Rolando Gomez Jr.

PARTON entered a guilty plea to Organized Fraud over $50,000 (F-1), Criminal Use of Identification (F-3), two counts of Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card (F-3), and 8 counts of Depositing Checks with Intent to Defraud (F-3).  After hearing testimony in PARTON’s request for a reduced sentence, Judge Maloney found PARTON to have acted in a cunning, organized, systematic and sophisticated manner; demonstrating a lack of remorse and no consideration for how her actions affected the business and its patients.

During the years PARTON had stolen from the company she convinced Dr. Gomez his business was failing, didn’t pay contract employees, and even failed to purchase needed medical supplies; instead diverting funds to herself.

Assistant State Attorney Justin Keen, who worked closely with the Melbourne Police Department and the Brevard Sheriff’s Office Economic Crimes Unit on the case, was satisfied with the sentence. In a statement he said “Theft at this level is always disturbing, but this defendant’s behavior abused not only her trusted relationship with Dr. Gomez, but she allowed her own greed to come before the well-being of patients she was responsible to care for.” He also said “Ms. Parton will have the next five years to focus on a plan for repaying the victim, and we’ll have 15 years of probation to ensure that she does.”

PARTON was described by Dr. Gomez as not only an employee but a close personal and trusted friend who he had given complete control of the company finances. In 2015 financial discrepancies were discovered and when confronted, PARTON admitted that she had taken some $4500 in funds from the business, allegedly to cover the cost of her surgical co-pay.

However an extensive investigation conducted by the Melbourne Police Department and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Economic Crimes Unit, uncovered that PARTON had actually diverted more than $151,000 from the business since 2011. Investigators discovered she had paid herself more than $90,000 in cash and another $15,000 in unauthorized charges on company credit cards.