Former Swift employee sentenced to prison for embezzlement

A former information technology employee of Swift Transportation was sentenced to nearly five years in prison after being convicted of embezzling nearly $2.2 million from the company.

David Dwight Reynolds, 30, of Glendale, Ariz., worked as an information technology network engineer for Swift Transportation between 2013 and 2016.

Reynolds used a corporate credit cards to make fraudulent purchases, according to a news release from the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office. He would then alter the invoices to conceal the purchases.

Reynolds’ supervisor, who approved of the purchases, knew little about IT networks. Therefore, she relied on Reynolds’ expertise when signing off on approvals. It was commonplace for Reynolds to submit invoices late, urgently request reimbursements and claim failure to do so could result in “calamitous effects on the IT network,” according to court documents.

He purchased IT equipment for his personal use along with cellphones, office furniture, televisions, cameras, computers and gun accessories.

Reynolds also set up a shell company to receive fraudulent payments, and he used that money to pay his personal credit card bills, wife’s tuition and other family expenses. In total, according to the release, Reynolds embezzled nearly $2.2 million. Additionally, when he didn’t report the embezzled funds on his personal income tax returns, he wound up owing more than $355,700 in back taxes.

On June 6, 2017, Reynolds was charged with 47 various counts, including 14 counts of wire fraud, 19 counts of mail fraud and 14 counts of money laundering. On Dec. 20, he pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, one count of money laundering and one additional count of tax evasion. There were 41 counts dismissed.

He was sentenced on Thursday, June 7, to 57 months in prison and three years of supervised release. The court also ordered him to pay nearly $2.2 million in restitution.