Marriott thief gets 41 months

A former Mandeville resident on Tuesday was sentenced in federal court to serve 41 months in prison for stealing about $3 million from Marriott hotels in New Orleans between May 2003 and July 2006.

Shannon Harp, the Marriott's former director of finance, also was ordered to pay back the funds she stole from the three hotels, the Marriott on Canal Street, the J.W. Marriott, also on Canal, and the Marriott on Convention Center Boulevard.

Harp, 38, requested small bills from a Marriott bank account at Whitney National Bank to be regularly delivered by armored car to the hotel, according to the factual basis Harp admitted to as a part of her Aug. 4 plea. That money was supposed to be used to make small change for customers at hotel bars, shops and restaurants.

She covered her tracks by making fraudulent entries into the Marriott's computerized accounting system, indicating the money had been deposited back into Marriott accounts, court records state.

That computer system was a part of an interstate network that connected to Marriott computers in Maryland, thus the federal wire fraud charge that was levied against her, according to court records.

The FBI uncovered the scheme and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carter Guice Jr., a member of the Financial and Computer Crime Unit, prosecuted the case.

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Benjamin Alexander-Bloch can be reached at bbloch@timespicayune.com or 985.898.4827.