Accountant stole $1.5 million from Prosser business. He got 3 months in jail

A bookkeeper was sentenced to three months in jail after pocketing about $1.5 million from a Prosser-area farming business.

Prosecutors initially planned to ask for more than a year in prison for Nathan D. Price, 33, but that changed when he was sentenced earlier in the week.

Prosecutors received new information that changed the recommendation for sentencing Price, Prosecutor Eric Eisinger said. While they could have asked for up to 10 years, they chose to ask for three months.

Eisinger did not explain what changed in the past six months since Price pleaded guilty to first-degree theft and forgery.

He also admitted to the aggravating factor of committing a major economic offense.

He spent two months in jail after being arrested, and has been out of jail since entering a guilty plea in January.

The employees and owners of Sunheaven Farms LLC who have been reeling from the theft wanted Price to spend more time in prison for his crime.

“One does not steal that amount of money over that period of time, writing himself 529 checks, and have any real concern about others,” said Daniel Bosted, who was Price’s direct supervisor. “Nathan’s only concern is that he got something out of it.”

Superior Court Judge Jackie Stam followed the prosecutor’s recommendation and sentenced Price to three months in jail. He will also have to repay the $1.5 million.

Price has expressed that he is sorry for the theft. He told investigators that he used the money to fund a drug addiction that he was struggling with. He said all of the money he has taken was used.

$1.5 million theft

Price started working at Sunheaven Farms LLC in 2017. The business is an effort put together by five farms that manage about 25,000 acres of land. They also provide services to the partners.

One of the business it runs is Horse Heaven Supply, General Manager Howard O. Jensen said in a statement to the court.

Price was in charge of accounts payable for the supply company, and had access to the other accounts under Sunheaven Farms, according to court documents.

“He became a very trusted employee,” Jensen said. “So trusted that we helped fund Mr. Price’s schooling to help him complete his accounting degree from Washington State University.”

Two years after he started, Price began shifting money from the company to his pockets. He created checks for himself that he would hide as payments to the company’s suppliers.

He normally picked vendors they did a lot of business with so no one would question the amounts.

“It was a calculated choice of multiple choices over many years unit it was discovered by another employee,” Jensen wrote. “Each day, week and year, he chose to hide this from us, his fellow employees, and the owners whom he worked for.”

He would eventually admit to Benton County Sheriff’s Investigators that the checks would normally be about $4,600, twice a week.

Another bookkeeper discovered the theft in 2023 after finding one payment that didn’t have an associated invoice. After uncovering one, she began to find many more.

Investigators were able to link the checks to Price, because he was seen cashing the checks at local banks and check cashing locations.

Effect of the theft

The majority of the money he took, $1.2 million, came from Horse Heaven Supply. At the time, the supply company had four employees, and they were struggling to figure out why they were losing money.

“Our inventories were not matching up with the losses we were having,” Jensen said. “Asking Nate certain things that he had stewardship over, he fully knew what was happening. This was a perfect time to admit to his actions and ask for help.”

Instead, they were looking at whether to shut down the supply company, which would have put four people out of work, Jensen said.

Bosted explained that the days after discovering the fraud were filled with anger at what he did and fear about the future.

“Everyone associated with him was cast in a suspicious light — the mechanics, the agronomist, even the office manager,” Bosted said. “The stress of what Nathan’s acions caused, plus the work that still needed to be done ... made for many long days at the office and a lack of enjoyment in life.”

The employees asked for at least two years in prison for Price.

This story was originally published August 3, 2024 at 11:40 AM.