5-year prison sentence for former El Dorado County sergeant
By Cathy Locke, Sacramento Bee
The former president of the El Dorado County Deputy Sheriff’s Association has been sentenced to five years in state prison for embezzling more than $300,000 over six years from the association.
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson announced the sentencing of Donald Philip Atkinson, a retired El Dorado County sheriff’s sergeant. Atkinson pleaded no contest last month and was sentenced today in El Dorado Superior Court on three felony counts of embezzlement, elder fraud and perjury.
Don Atkinson
He was ordered by the court to pay more than $400,000 in restitution. While in state prison and on parole, Atkinson has agreed to pay $1,000 per month from his retirement fund to the victims.
Authorities said Atkinson opened bank accounts in his name and submitted forged documents to the Deputy Sheriff’s Association to justify payments made to him and his companies. Much of the money was obtained through ATM withdrawals and checks payable to Atkinson, which made his actions difficult for auditors to trace, according to an Attorney General’s Office news release.
The case was investigated by the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office with support from the Attorney General’s Office. The investigation showed that Atkinson falsified Fair Political Practice Commission forms and submitted forged documents to the Deputy Sheriff’s Association.