Medical Office Administrator Sentenced in Wire Fraud Case

Royann Schmidgall, who is guilty of bilking a Nebraska medical group out of over $250,000, was sentenced Monday in the United States District Court of Lincoln.  Schmidgall faces 18 months in federal prison and must pay nearly $542,000 in restitution.  She also will serve three years of supervised released after her prison sentence is completed.

Schmidgall, 54, worked for 15 years as an office administrator for Nebraska Pulmonary Specialties before she was terminated in December of 2011 after the discovery of “financial irregularities.”  She was indicted five months later and the government alleged that she had stolen over $695,523 by paying herself for time off that was never authorized by her employer.  The scheme involved wire transmissions she made to a third party payroll provider.

She originally faced 15 counts of wire fraud, but pleaded guilty to a single count as part of a plea deal with the United States Attorney’s Office.  The plea included the provision that Schmidgall would spend no more than 18 months in prison.

Royann Schmidgall also agreed to forfeit a Dodge Durango, Volkswagen Beetle and Holiday Rambler motorhome, sell her family’s home in Lincoln and another in Ames, Iowa, and sign over a $282,000 retirement account, with all of the proceeds going toward restitution.