March 14, 2008

FORMER ALZA EMPLOYEE ARRAIGNED ON EMBEZZLEMENT CHARGES

Former Alza Administrative Assistant Charged Over $240,000 in Personal Expenses to Corporation

SAN JOSE – United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that Sherry Gehrung, 42, of Sunnyvale, California, was arraigned last Thursday afternoon in Federal Court in San Jose, California on a wire fraud charge alleging that she embezzled money from her former employer, Alza Corporation. According to the Indictment filed in San Jose federal district court on February 27, 2008 and statements made by counsel in open court at her arraignment last week, Ms. Gehrung used her position to embezzle over $240,000 by charging personal expenses to her company charge card.

Ms. Gehrung was an administrative assistant and worked at Alza’s Mountain View, California facility. Alza is a pharmaceutical research and development company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Between February 2007 and October 2007, Ms. Gehrung fraudulently charged over $240,000 in personal expenses on an Alza corporate credit card, including paying for a 1968 Ford Mustang and 1969 Chevrolet Camaro automobile, the restoration of those automobiles, cosmetic surgery, a Hawaii and Tahiti cruise vacation, a granite kitchen countertop, a residential air-conditioning unit, and American Express gift cards.

Ms. Gehrung made her initial appearance in federal court in San Jose last Thursday afternoon before United States Magistrate Court Judge Nandor J. Vadas. She was ordered released on a $100,000 bond. Her next appearance is scheduled before United States District Court Judge James Ware on March 31, 2008 at 1:30 p.m.

The maximum statutory penalty for wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343 and 1346, is twenty years in prison and a fine of $ 1,000,000, plus restitution. Any sentence following conviction would, however, be determined by the court after considering the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and would be imposed in the discretion of the Court. An Indictment contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Ms. Gehrung must be presumed innocent unless and until convicted.

Joseph A. Fazioli is the Assistant United States Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Legal Assistant Jeanne Carstensen. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the United States Secret Service and the Mountain View Police Department.

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For more information on federal criminal defense law, contact the Law Offices of Joseph Shemaria of Los Angeles, California.