Office worker for Arizona town sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for fraud, theft

PHOENIX – A former office worker was sentenced Feb. 23 to 3½ years in prison for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the Arizona town that employed her, authorities said.

In addition to the prison time, Jennifer Elizabeth Alcaida, 50, was ordered to serve seven years of probation upon her release and pay more than $194,000 in restitution for her fraud, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

On Jan. 6, Alcaida pleaded guilty to one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices and one count of theft.

She was accused of committing multiple forms of fraud while she was an office specialist for the La Paz County town of Parker. Parker is about 150 miles northwest of Phoenix on the Arizona-California border.

A state grand jury in Mohave County indicted Alcaida on nine counts in April 2025.

How did former office worker defraud Arizona town?

Prosecutors said she used unauthorized checks to get money out of town accounts and withheld cash that was meant to be deposited. She also made personal purchases on a town-issued credit card.

Furthermore, Alcaida committed fraud while obtaining a Paycheck Protection Program loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), prosecutors said. The loan program was designed to help businesses retain their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alcaida’s application said the loan was needed to pay employees for a business that didn’t exist, prosecutors said.

About $21,000 of the restitution is for the SBA, according to court documents. The rest goes to the Arizona Municipal Risk Retention Pool.

“This case is a clear example of someone who abused the public’s trust for personal gain,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a press release on Feb. 26. “Arizonans deserve to know that those who steal from their communities will be held accountable, and this sentence reflects exactly that.”

Related

Southern Arizona couple sentenced for pandemic assistance fraudFormer Phoenix anchor sentenced to 10 years in prison for COVID loan scamMan critically injured after being shot, crashing car into an Avondale homeCenter for Biological Diversity sues Arizona Game and Fish over mountain lion hunting rulesCars & Coffee experience starts in downtown Chandler with exotic, classic and luxury vehiclesWoman dies after rollover crash near downtown Phoenix