Farmington Woman Gets Prison Time For Stealing From Bank Customer

FARMINGTON, CT — A Farmington woman will be imprisoned after she pleaded guilty to stealing over $100,000 from a customer at the Bank of America where she worked, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut announced.

Lee Blanchette, 59, of Farmington will serve 12 months and one day of prison time followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer ruled. She pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud on May 25, 2021.

While she was employed as a relationship manager at Bank of America, Blanchette could activate temporary ATM cards and assign them to a customer's account, according to documents and statements made in court.

Between August 2014 and March 2016, Blanchette caused multiple temporary ATM cards to be activated for bank accounts of a customer she "knew was experiencing cognitive decline," District Attorney Leonard C. Boyle said.

"Without the customer's authorization, Blanchette used the temporary ATM cards to withdraw significant funds from the customer's accounts, keeping a significant portion for her own benefit, and causing a loss of $103,080," the Attorney's Office said in a news release.

Blanchette must report to prison on April 4, and Judge Meyer also required her to pay full restitution to Bank of America (which covered the victim's losses).