A former adoption agency director who overcharged adoptive parents made her final restitution payment Monday and was sentenced to 15 years of probation.
Debra West, 58, pleaded guilty in October to first-degree grand theft in the scheme and made the final $81,000 payment of the $178,000 in restitution her plea bargain required. She also must pay $4,000 within a month to cover the cost of her prosecution.
West faced up to 30 years in prison if she failed to repay her victims.
Hillsborough Circuit Judge William Fuente Barred West from doing any direct or indirect work in the child placement field, but he said she could counsel or give advice to birth mothers.
Prosecutors said that should balance their desire not to allow West any financial interest in adoptions and still let her exercise her constitutional right to speech.
The adoptive parents approved the deal.
West pleaded guilty to defrauding 20 couples from August 2002 to October 2005 by using her position as director of the Tampa-based Adoption by Choice.
Prosecutors said the couples paid West and her agency for the expenses incurred by the birth mothers. The money was supposed to go toward health care and living arrangements, but prosecutors said the mothers received only token payments, if any.
Investigators said several adoptive parents were charged for medical expenses when the birth mothers were covered by Medicaid or private insurance.
West created false documents to hide the embezzlement.
The offenses occurred in Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Citrus, Sarasota, Marion, Alachua and Brevard counties.
The Department of Children & Families revoked West's license in 2005. She was arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in August 2008.
West is now working with her husband at a Christian cable television station.
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