Forming Nursing Home Worker Enters Embezzlement Plea

A former nursing home worker in West Virginia has pleaded guilty in an embezzlement case. Thirty-five-year-old Veneford Blankenship of Princeton entered the plea to mail fraud in federal court in Charleston. Prosecutors say Blankenship worked as the business office supervisor at a Princeton nursing home admitted diverting residents’ payment checks into a bank account. She then wrote checks to herself, forging the signatures of two other individuals. Blankenship agreed to pay nearly $83,000 in restitution as part of her plea agreement. She faces up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is set for Jan. 23.