Sentence for Mankato Motors employee thief includes jail time

MANKATO — The attorney for a woman who stole nearly $273,000 from Mankato Motors told a judge she was addicted to gambling and acclamation.

Ivy Gay Lewis, 52, of North Mankato was sentenced Friday to at least 125 days in jail, 10 years probation and restitution for embezzling funds from her former employer. She pleaded guilty in January to felony charges of theft by swindle and check forgery.

Lewis worked for the car dealership processing warranty claims. According to the charges filed last August, Lewis swindled the company by making fraudulent warranty and recall claims, issuing checks to customers and forging the customers' signatures. She wrote “payable to the North Mankato American Legion” on each check and apparently deposited them into the Legion's account, which she controlled.

Lewis is also facing separate charges for allegedly stealing from the Legion, where she was the volunteer financial manager.

“It sickens me to think that she portrayed herself as a dedicated veteran who would do anything for anybody when for over two years she was embezzling money from us and using her power and control at the legion to make it all work,” Mankato Motors Vice President Kari Simon-Benning said at Friday's sentencing hearing.

While the initial charges said Lewis had taken nearly $264,000, Simon-Benning told the judge the amount is now suspected to be nearly $273,000.

No customers were impacted by the scheme, she noted; the loss was limited to the dealership's owner as well as employees who received bonuses tied to profits.

In addition to the lost revenues, Simon-Benning said Lewis' actions damaged the dealership's reputation and required employees to spend hundreds of hours investigating.

The dealership vice president said in her victim impact statement that Lewis was highly regarded for her contributions to community organizations.

“She is nothing that I thought she was. She is a farce,” Simon-Benning said.

Lewis' attorney, Christopher Kennedy, told the judge she was impelled by a gambling addiction and the prestige and self-fulfillment she gained from donating to organizations and individuals in need.

“She became addicted not only to the rush of gambling but to the rush of people giving her commendations,” Kennedy said.

Lewis declined Judge Bradley Walker's invitation to make a statement on her own behalf. Kennedy explained it was because of the still pending charges in the alleged American Legion theft.

Prosecutor Ryan Hansch asked the judge to consider the large sum of stolen funds, the extended period over which they were taken and the complicated scheme that was involved.

Walker called the $273,000 a “staggering” amount. He added that he was troubled by the fact that Lewis had closed a personal bank account, stating suspicion it was an attempt to evade restitution.

Walker's multi-pronged sentence included an order to pay back all $273,000.

Lewis also was sentenced to up to one year in jail over the next few years. She must report next month to serve 125 days, minus three days already served. The judge authorized work release if the jail deems Lewis eligible.

Lewis faces additional potential 120-day jail terms in 2019 and 2021. She can apply for those terms to be waived if she is making restitution payments and complying with probation requirements.

Lewis will spend 10 years on probation, with conditions including she doesn't gamble and she complete all gambling addiction and mental health programming recommended following evaluations.

The judge also ordered Lewis to write a letter of apology to her former employer but not have any other contact with the business.