Mountaineer bookkeeper sentenced to 87 months for embezzling funds

A former bookkeeper at Mountaineer racetrack in West Virginia was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison on Monday by a judge in U.S. District Court in Wheeling, according to court documents.

Anita Ambler, also known as Anita Webb, was convicted in April on multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering after prosecutors alleged she embezzled approximately $1.3 million from the horsemen’s account at Mountaineer between 2005 and 2010.

Under the Monday sentence, Ambler will also be forced to repay the amount she stole and forfeit property she bought with the embezzled funds, including a house in Reva, Va., according to court records.

According to an indictment, Ambler created an account for Forgotten Farms, a fictitious entity, to receive much of the stolen funds. She wrote checks from the account until the track notified the authorities of suspicious activity in 2010 shortly after she left her job.