Idaho Bank Executive Sentenced for Embezzling Thousands

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — A former Idaho Falls bank executive has been ordered to serve 15 months in prison for embezzling more than $142,000 during a two-year period. Sixty-three-year-old Deanne Marie Cottle of Swan Valley was also sentenced Monday to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine. She pleaded guilty in November to one count of embezzling the money from Bank of Commerce between January 2009 and September 2011.

Cottle is the bank's former vice president for security and the director of human resources. Federal prosecutors accused her of converting 31 checks from health insurance carriers into cashier's checks she then deposited into a personal account. Under her plea agreement, Cottle has already made full restitution to the bank.