A Florida businesswoman who admitted to taking advantage of her Virgin Islands clients after hurricanes Irma and Maria was sentenced to six months of home confinement on Thursday. The judge presiding over the hearing told defendant Alexandra Smyth he did not think her punishment should include jail time.
Smyth, 36, entered a last-minute plea agreement in September 2023 as her wire fraud trial date approached. A grand jury charged her in October 2020 with diverting payments owed to the IRS by taxpayers who used her business to prepare their taxes.
Court documents initially accused Smyth of taking $25,000 from two clients for her personal use. But as of Thursday’s sentencing date, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office had a list of five fraud victims who collectively lost $41,144.72.
When the case was called by Chief District Judge Robert Molloy, defense attorney Joseph Di Ruzzo produced envelopes containing money orders for four clients of Smyth’s Perfect Balance Accounting Services, LLC, and one intended beneficiary of a hurricane recovery charity Smyth set up called Perfect Heart.
Molloy commended Smyth for making restitution before the court, calling it an uncommon act. “It counts towards accepting responsibility,” the judge said.
Di Ruzzo said his client had “made some poor choices as an adult” but added, “A sentence other than prison would be appropriate.”
But Assistant Attorney General Everard Potter, representing the government, was less than impressed. He said the payments amounted to less than what was owed, and an accounting for meeting the difference should be made before Smyth left the courthouse.
Potter said when he looked over the pattern of 19 bank transfers made from the business account to Smyth’s personal account, he sensed a willful intent. “These are offenses we should take a hard look at, and then there were multiple offenses,” he said.
The government asked for a sentence of three months in jail.
The defendant apologized to those she cheated, but when Molloy asked Smyth why she did it, hesitation set in. “I wasn’t thinking at all. At the moment I was trying to survive and … and I was trying to keep the business as well,” she said.
Then the judge spoke.
“You used your skill and training to violate multiple individuals. The court commends you for paying restitution. That is not something the court often sees in financial crimes,” Molloy said.
But he criticized her rationale when asked about a motive. With that, the judge ordered the defendant to serve home confinement for six months and to pay for the electronic monitors to guarantee compliance.
Smyth was also directed to serve an additional 36 months of supervised release after her sentence was done. Molloy also ordered that the remaining restitution be paid in monthly installments at ten percent of Smyth’s monthly gross earnings.
