MADISON, WIS. -- Jeffrey M. Anderson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Stasia Hargis, 66, Madison, Wis., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to three years of probation for theft of government property. Hargis’s probationary sentence includes a condition of 120 days of community confinement and 180 days of alcohol consumption monitoring. Hargis was convicted of this charge on March 17, 2017.
From approximately August 2010 through March 1, 2012, Hargis deposited into her bank account $32,662 in United States Treasury checks payable to her deceased mother, who died in July 2010 and whose name was also Stasia Hargis. Her mother was a beneficiary of a Department of Defense annuity program. Hargis used the funds for her own benefit, and sent forged certifications to the Department of Defense claiming to be her mother. Hargis did not plead guilty to the charge, but she did not contest any of the government’s evidence at a court trial.
In sentencing Hargis, Judge Peterson told Hargis, who has multiple prior convictions for operating while under the influence, that she relentlessly deflected responsibility for everything she has ever done wrong. Judge Peterson commented that the sentence was necessary to protect the public and to provide Hargis with the correctional treatment that she needed.
The charge against Hargis was the result of an investigation conducted by Defense Finance and Accounting Services, Criminal Investigations, of the U.S. Department of Defense. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Antonio M. Trillo.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
