Office manager gets 10 years for embezzling from friend

RENO -- The office manager of a small realty company in Sparks has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for embezzling nearly $500,000 from her best friend to finance her gambling habit.

Prosecutors said 62-year-old Carolyn Sue Causey stole the money between 2007-10 from Pat Schweigert, the owner of ERA Realty.

Schweigert learned of the thefts after an IRS agent told her she owed the government more than $550,000 in payroll withholdings taxes that she'd put Causey in charge of paying.

She later learned that Causey also stole $1 million from her company through fraudulent checks and creating bogus accounts and payments.