Man pleads guilty to embezzling $700K from UT firm

Cedar City, Utah • A 39-year-old man has pleaded guilty to second-degree felony theft charges for embezzling nearly $700,000 from his employer.

Under a plea deal with the Iron County Attorney's Office, 39-year-old Nathan Esplin will receive a one-year jail sentence and 36 months of probation.

His attorney, Jack Burns, told The Spectrum of St. George (http://bit.ly/1qSX7zc ) Esplin also has already lived up to an agreement to repay $500,000 to Leavitt Group Enterprises.

Esplin signed a promissory note to pay another $150,000 to Traveler's Insurance, which paid that amount in a claim to the company.

According to court records, Esplin took $682,342 over a nine-year period by 2014 while employed as treasurer and chief accounting officer of the company.

Burns says Esplin admitted to the embezzlement when confronted by his employer.

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Information from: The Spectrum, http://www.thespectrum.com