A former Ascension Sacred Heart rehab manager indicted on three dozen counts related to monetary theft was sentenced to three years in federal prison for stealing and laundering $607,000 from the hospital.
Timothy Gilbert, a 54-year-old Milton man who worked for Sacred Heart since 1993, was sentenced after previously pleading no contest to 22 counts of wire fraud, 10 counts of money laundering and four counts of tax evasion after stealing and laundering money from the hospital for more than 10 years.
"Abuse of trust, embezzlement and tax evasion warrant significant criminal consequences," said U.S. Attorney Jason Coody. "This defendant's years-long theft from his employer and his efforts to launder and conceal his fraud proceeds are both illegal and offensive to the hardworking Americans who pay their taxes to defend our country and maintain its operations."
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In 2012, Sacred Heart ended a purchase program that allowed Gilbert access to a corporate Sam's Club credit card, but federal court records say Gilbert never returned the card as instructed.
Gilbert then made unauthorized purchases of prepaid credit cards and gift cards, and he converted the funds to his person PayPal, Stripe and bank accounts to "conceal his scheme, make personal purchases and withdraw large amounts of cash to gamble at casinos."
He then failed to pay federal taxes on additional earnings he made from gambling and his fraudulent scheme, according to court records. Court records indicate Gilbert received roughly $800,000 in fraudulently obtained funds, and he obtained $600,000 of the $800,000 between 2019 and 2022.
As part of Judge T. Kent Wetherell II's sentence, he ordered Gilbert to repay Sacred Heart $607,000 in restitution and over $160,000 to the IRS for unpaid taxes. He must also pay the IRS and Pensacola Police Department $38,000 for costs of prosecution.