FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, April 1, 2021

            WASHINGTON – Katherine Emma Ross, 29, formerly of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a D.C. law firm. The guilty plea was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, Matthew S. Miller, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, and Metropolitan Police Department Acting Chief Robert J. Contee III.

            According to the Statement of Facts filed in conjunction with Ross’ guilty plea, Ross was employed by the Victim-Law-Firm as an hourly employee in a non-lawyer capacity. Without permission of the Victim-Law-Firm or its owner, Ross wrote checks to herself in amounts that she was not owed, forged signatures on those checks, and cashed the checks at bank branches in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland. She acknowledged that she stole at least $320,000 from the Victim-Law-Firm and its owner through her scheme.

            Ross pled guilty to one count of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344. The maximum sentence for bank fraud is thirty years of imprisonment. Under federal sentencing guidelines, however, she faces a likely recommended sentence of between 30 and 41 months in prison. The Honorable Reggie B. Walton, who accepted Ross’ guilty plea, scheduled sentencing for June 29, 2021.

            In announcing the guilty plea, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillips, Special Agent in Charge Miller, and Acting Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Secret Service’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Michon Tart, Forensic Accountant Bryan Snitselaar, and Assistant United States Attorney Kondi Kleinman.