(Brawley bookkeeper enters guilty plea)…56 year old Ted Riley entered the plea Monday.

This according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of California. Riley entered the plea for wire fraud and making false tax returns in a five year scheme, stealing from his employer, a local farm in Brawley The Attorney’s Office said Riley stole approximately $272,984 from his employer, filed fraudulent tax returns, and failed to file required employment tax returns resulting in a $1.5 million tax lien against the farm. Riley served as the farm’s bookkeeper from 2010 to 2015, overseeing the farm’s entire annual budget. For his scheme, Riley made 148 transactions out of the employers bank account, fictitiously entered various vendors to be paid into the bookkeeping records, and generated checks made payable to himself. Riley is facing a 20-year prison sentence and a fine up to $250,000.