HARTFORD – A Fairfield mother of two who stole $1.5 million from a Shelton financial services company was sentenced to two years in federal prison on Wednesday.
Carolina Guerreno, 50, will face two years on federal probation after she is released from prison.
Guerrano was the chief financial officer at the Barnum Financial Group, according to court filings, and used her rank in the company to steal money from January 2019 through February 2021.
Guerrero admitted to her theft in court and has so far paid some $400,000 back.
Guerrero’s defense attorney filed court documents pointing out Guerreno arrived in the United States as an immigrant from Paraguay in 1990 and managed to put herself through college while working several jobs. In 2001 she got a job in the finance industry and started to rise through the ranks.
She was hired as Barnum’s CFO in 2018. However, bills in her personal life started to accumulate over the next few years after her husband fell ill. She also has two children in special education, according to her court filing.
The stealing started as a way to pay the bills — but prosecutors noted the money quickly became about supporting a lavish lifestyle rather than achieving fiscal stability.
Payments to her monthly credit card statements went from $5,000 a month to $20,000 a month.
She paid off her home’s mortgage 21 years early.
She purchased a $4,600 irrigation system; a $2,200 security system; an $8,900 paving project; an $8,000 hot tub, and; some $80,000 in home improvements.
The government also said Guerrero used stolen money to finance ski trips, along with vacation trips to England, Italy, and Spain.
Prosecutors noted she was stealing even though she was earning a salary of about $200,000 per year.
Her employer caught wind of the scheme and fired her in February 2021.
She pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement in August to one count of wire fraud.
The crime was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the Wallingford Police Department, and the Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Miller.
