Bookkeeper from Ballwin Pleads Guilty to Fraud

Ballwin resident Sherri Berry pleaded guilty to tax evasion and fraud Tuesday following charges that she embezzled money from her employer.

The indictment against Berry, 50, said that between 2004 and 2007, she was working as a bookkeeper for Pernikoff Construction in St. Louis, where she fraudulently wrote 144 checks from the bank account of her employer to a personal credit card account, sometimes forging a company vice president's signature. The transactions totaled $379,500.

"She used the stolen money to pay for a variety of personal expenditures including her children's private school tuition, travel, car payments, and interest on her credit card accounts," a media statement from the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Berry pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of bank fraud and one count of felony tax evasion. Berry is scheduled to receive her sentence on Aug. 4.

A statement from the U.S. Department of Justice said bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and/or fines up to $1 million; tax evasion carries a maximum of 5 years in prison and/or fines up to $100,000, the DOJ statement said.