A former Washington College of Law employee was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for the interstate transportation of stolen property in federal court Wednesday.
Martine Tavakoli, 50, pleaded guilty May 20 to stealing nearly $400,000-worth of checks made out to AU law journals over a period of six years, The Eagle previously reported.
Judge Paul Friedman sentenced Tavakoli to this term in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, rather than house arrest with electronic monitoring, as suggested by the defense in an earlier memorandum.
The prosecution recommended Tavakoli serve 18-24 months in prison. She will also have to pay full restitution to AU — a sum of $399,529.57, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Tavakoli had deposited multiple checks made out to the law journals in a secret bank account at a SunTrust branch in Virginia from 2003 to 2009. She addressed the court and apologized for her actions.
“I just feel so horrible that I’ve betrayed all my colleagues and the administrators at the University,” she said.
The potential effects of Tavakoli’s prison time on her youngest daughter, a 16-year-old high school student, was a factor in the judge’s decision about the sentence length.
Friedman said he chose a 12-month and one day incarceration because she can earn up to 54 days off for good behavior, which would mean only 10 months in prison — the equivalent of one school year.
“Sentencing is the most difficult thing a judge has to do,” he said during the hearing. “This is one of the harder ones.”
Tavakoli’s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Mary Petras teared up several times during the hearing.
“For some reason, Mrs. Tavakoli really strikes a chord with me,” Petras said.
sdazio@theeagleonline.com
