TULSA — A Sand Springs woman has been sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison after admitting she stole more than $393,000 from a family-owned drilling business in Hominy.
U.S. District Judge Sara E. Hill sentenced Susan Marie Garrison, 54, to 33 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Garrison was also ordered to pay $393,025.09 in restitution.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma, Garrison worked as a trusted bookkeeper for the Hominy business from 2017 through 2022. Her responsibilities included managing financial activity and bank accounts and preparing company records.
Federal prosecutors said Garrison wrote more than 240 unauthorized checks to herself, then cashed or deposited the checks into her personal bank accounts.
Court documents identify the business as Eyler Drilling, which was owned by Dean and Monty Eyler. A federal sentencing memorandum states that Garrison wrote 242 unauthorized checks between June 2019 and August 2022.
Prosecutors said Garrison concealed the theft by making false entries, deleting entries and leaving transactions out of the company’s accounting records.
The theft ultimately contributed to the destruction of the family business that Dean and Monty Eyler had built together over 21 years, according to the sentencing memorandum.
Eyler Drilling was forced to liquidate, while the Eylers remained personally responsible for business debts they had guaranteed. Prosecutors said Monty Eyler has worked multiple jobs outside Oklahoma to pay those debts, while Dean Eyler has delayed his retirement to help.
“Garrison ruined Dean and Monty Eyler’s lives financially by destroying the business that was their life savings,” federal prosecutors wrote.
The filing also noted that the company supported its employees in addition to the Eyler family.
Garrison was allowed to remain free on bond and voluntarily surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons at a later date.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Greenough prosecuted it.