A former bookkeeper for a Pacific Beach technology support firm has been remanded to start his two-year federal prison sentence for stealing $356,644, which he was ordered to pay back.
Matthew Palomino Hernandez, 47, pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and was sentenced April 1 to two years in federal prison, but he had been allowed to remain free on $25,000 bond until July to surrender.
It was hoped that Hernandez could come up with some restitution for Brett Corbin, the owner of Networks 2000, who terminated Hernandez in 2017 once he discovered the thefts.
Court records show that Hernandez told officials he could not find a job after he told prospective employers he was going to prison in July. Court officials decided to remand him earlier because Hernandez said he was drinking seven vodka cocktails per day while free and that violated the conditions of his bond.
On June 29, Hernandez walked into the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Butcher in a bond revocation hearing while wearing shorts, a brown shirt and flip flops. His attorney, Holly Sullivan, announced he would surrender to custody immediately without a hearing.
Hernandez has not yet been assigned to a prison facility but remains in custody. He was an air traffic controller for five years.
“This defendant stole resources that he was hired to protect,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “These thefts are devastating for small businesses.”
Hernandez made online payments from the firm’s business check account to pay off his personal credit card debt and used a corporate credit card to buy a $3,500 hot tub, concert tickets to Coachella, roundtrip tickets to the Dominican Republic, and a home gym, according to the U.S. Attorney.
Hernandez worked for Corbin for almost 17 years – sometimes out of Corbin’s home. Corbin was quoted in court records as being “shocked and violated about the amount of theft and how it had happened over such a long period of time.”
Corbin spent “hundreds of hours over the past four years finding exactly which purchases and payroll items were altered,” according to records. He said Networks was more successful than it reflected on the company’s books due to Hernandez’s embezzlement.
Hernandez got another job as a bookkeeper for a cabinet company but was fired for embezzlement there, according to court records.
U.S. District Court Judge Janis Sammartino sentenced Hernandez to the two-year term requested by the U.S. Attorney’s office.
His attorney said he had never been treated for alcoholism. Hernandez has not worked since 2018, and a court document said: that “his alcohol addiction appears to have contributed to his criminal conduct.”
