Woman gets jail

on fraud counts

A Hubbardton woman was sentenced to 21 months in jail for defrauding Vermont corporations, banks and residents of more than $70,000 so she could buy horses.

Ruth Tucker, 66, formerly of Randolph Center, was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 15, 2010 for bank fraud and then again in October of that year for wire fraud.

According to court records, in 2009, Tucker got loans totaling $55,000 from the Community Capital of Vermont and the Addison County Development Corporation so she could re-establish her small business and to hire Vermonters.

Instead, she used the funds to buy registered Morgan horses and to pay for their training and board as well as other horse-related expenses, according to federal prosecutors in Vermont.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Tucker also defrauded People’s United Bank (formerly the Chittenden Bank) and KeyBank by writing large checks on accounts with insufficient balances, to the tune of $18,000, also for horse-related items.

And she wrote bad checks to local individuals and businesses who also suffered losses, prosecutors said.

Tucker was arrested by the U.S. Secret Service in August 2010 and pleaded guilty to an indictment in June 2011.