HARTFORD, Conn. — A former Naugatuck resident and employee at Yale University School of Medicine was sentenced to nine years in prison for stealing $40 million in electronics.
Jamie Petrone, 43, of Lithia Springs, Georgia was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant in Hartford to 109 months of imprisoned, followed by three years of supervised release for fraud and tax offense related to her theft of the $40 million worth of computer and electronic hardware from the Yale University School of Medicine.
According to court documents and statements in court, beginning in 2008, Petrone worked at Yale University School of Medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine, eventually serving as the Director of Finance and Administration for the Department of Emergency Medicine. Part of her job was to make and authorize certain purchases for the department as long as the purchase was below $10,000.
Starting as early as 2013, Petrone began a scheme where she'd order or have others working for her to order millions of dollars of electronic hardware from Yale using Yale University School of Medicine funds and arranged to ship the stolen hardware to an out-of-state business for money in return.
In Petrone's scheme, she falsely represented on Yale internal forms and in electronic communication that the hardware was for Yale University School of Medicine needs, such as different studies, and she broke down the fraudulent orders into purchases below $10,000. The out-of-state business, which resold the electronic equipment, paid Petrone by wiring funds into an account of a company in which she owns, Maziz Entertainment LLC.
Officials said Petrone caused Yale University School of Medicine to lose $40,504,200. Petrone used the money for various personal expenses, including expensive cars, real estate and travel.
Officials said Petrone did not pay taxes on the money she got from selling the stolen equipment. She filed false federal tax returns for the 2013 through 2016 tax years, in which she falsely claimed as business expenses the costs of the stolen equipment, and failed to file any federal tax returns for the 2017 through 2020 tax years. This caused a loss of $6,416,618 to the U.S. Treasury.
Petrone was arrested on September 3, 2021, and on March 28, 2022, she pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return.
Judge Bryant ordered Petrone to make full restitution. Petrone has agreed to forfeit $560,421.14 that was seized from the Maziv Entertainment LLC bank account as part of the investigation, a 2014 Mercedes-Benz G550, a 2017 Land Rover/Range Rover SV Autobiography, a 2015 Cadillac Escalade Premium, a 2020 Mercedes Benz Model E450A, a 2016 Cadillac Escalade, and a 2018 Dodge Charger. She also has agreed to the liquidation of three Connecticut properties that she owns or co-owns to help satisfy her restitution obligation. A property she owns in Georgia is also subject to seizure and liquidation.
Petrone was taken into custody following the sentencing proceeding.
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