A Mission, Texas woman has been sentenced to 25 months in federal prison for diverting $1.2 million from her employer, McCreery Aviation, to pay personal expenses. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei.
Elizabeth Batten, 57, pleaded guilty on July 9, 2025. She was also ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution and will serve three years of supervised release after her prison term. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton heard evidence that Batten used company funds to settle personal debts and noted that she had abused a position of trust.
Batten served as director of financing at McCreery Aviation in the Rio Grande Valley from 2019 to 2023 and had worked at the company for 16 years. As part of her plea agreement, she admitted to using signed blank company checks meant for business purposes to pay off her own credit card accounts.
She concealed her actions by mailing fraudulent payments through the U.S. Postal Service to various credit card companies across different states.
The scheme came to light when a McCreery Aviation employee noticed irregularities with company checks in late 2023. The investigation ultimately revealed Batten’s fraudulent diversion of $1.2 million.
Batten has been allowed to remain on bond and will voluntarily surrender to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility yet to be determined.
The FBI led the investigation, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose A. Garcia prosecuted the case.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, which announced the sentence, operates from its headquarters in Houston and covers 43 counties with offices in cities including McAllen where this case originated. The office is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes and representing the government in civil matters within its jurisdiction, serving over nine million people across southern Texas (source). It partners with agencies such as the FBI on investigations (source).
