Lake Of The Ozarks Woman Sentenced To 17 Years, $1.5M Restitution For Embezzlement

SUNRISE BEACH, Mo. - A Lake of the Ozarks woman has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for embezzlement.

After pleading guilty in April to stealing and forgery, Danielle Thomas, a former friend and employee at Poly Lift Boat Lifts, received her sentencing on Thursday, Aug. 1.

She was sentenced to consecutive seven and 10-year terms and a restitution of over $1.5 million.

According to the probable cause statement, Thomas had been embezzling money from the company since 2017.

In an interview about the allegations, she reportedly said, "shopping is the only thing that makes her happy and she got greedy and stole money [redacted] to pay off her credit cards."

Thomas initialed 367 checks between September 2017 and June 2023 that she said were used to pay personal bills to the sum of over $2.8 million, according to the statement.

Thomas had been hired as the office manager in 2016. It was not until July 2023 that the misappropriation of funds by Thomas was discovered, according to a filing related to the victims' claim for restitution.

After she was fired and arrested, many of Thomas' possessions were confiscated, including:

- 2023 BMW M4 Competition

- 2022 Shelby GT 500

- 2021 Skeeter ZXR20 with 250 Yamaha & Trailer

- 2022 Lexus RX

- Designer purses

- Designer shoes

- Watches

The sentence hearing was originally scheduled for June 28, 2024, until it was pushed to August.

Judge William Hickle gave Thomas 10 years for the stealing felony and 7 years for felony forgery.