(Sacramento, CA) – Federal prosecutors have submitted their sentencing recommendation for Chanell Easton, the former Yuba City woman who pled guilty to wire fraud and then was convicted of aggregated identity theft. The ID theft enabled her to embezzle $361,000 from St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, where she worked. Prosecutors are seeking the maximum allowable sentence of 6 years, 9 months in federal prison.

The recommendation notes that as a church administrator “she held a position of trust and managed the day to day finances as a salaried employee,” adding that her embezzlement included forging the names of the church’s volunteer food pantry director and volunteer treasurer. It adds that “Easton’s crime was callous” resulting in cutbacks to the food pantry & youth programs, as well as other paid employees loosing their jobs and the church struggling “to afford basic maintenance and upkeep.”

Sentencing is scheduled for next Tuesday, the 20th.