A former office manager from Attleboro has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for embezzling more than $400,000 from a Franklin-based environmental services company. Marie Hobson, 55, received her sentence from U.S. District Court Chief Judge Denise J. Casper in Boston federal court. In addition to the prison term, Hobson was ordered to serve three years of supervised release, pay $511,119 in restitution, and forfeit $429,980.
Hobson pleaded guilty in October 2025 to two counts of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. According to court documents, between December 2019 and March 2025, she inflated her payroll by creating approximately $268,046 in fake expense reimbursements—including costs like uniforms that she did not actually use as part of her job. She also used company credit cards for personal expenses such as country club memberships and vacations totaling over $105,000.
To hide her actions, Hobson manipulated the company’s accounting software so it appeared she only received her regular salary. She further concealed the scheme by not reporting the stolen funds on her federal income tax returns for tax years 2021 through 2024. This resulted in a tax loss of about $81,000 to the government.
“United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Thomas E. Demeo, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today.” The Franklin Police Department assisted with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Kosto prosecuted the case.