A woman in Texas with dreams of virtual stardom was sentenced to 35 years in prison for stealing $1.2 million to fund her aspirations of being internet famous.
Staci Blackmon pleaded guilty to the years-long crime spree after her former employer, a high-end home building company in Southlake, found her out.
In 2019, Blackmon started using a bank account belonging to a senior partner who had unexpectedly passed away, according to FOX 4.
"Staci Blackmon actually befriended the heir of this senior partner and was helping her figure out where all he had accounts and all of this, and so she was literally walking through this with the person she was victimizing," said Lori Varnell, Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney.
Blackmon allegedly used a company credit card to send approximately $900,000 through PayPal to the popular social media platform TikTok.
Prosecutors say she was using the funds to tip social media influencers on live streams in hopes of creating her own large following.
Blackmon is also accused of purchasing a suite for Dallas Mavericks games and lavish trips, among other things.
"She didn't buy any assets. She didn't put the money anywhere and had nothing to offer, to pay back; that was comparable to the amount that she stole," explained Varnell.
"She went ahead and stole another $400,000 from the business as well," added the assistant DA.
The employer ultimately caught on to Blackmon's scheme after the theft led the company to realize the crime had been going on for several years.
Varnell described Blackmon as "extremely intelligent," saying she had "only ever graduated from high school, but that is no measure of how intelligent you are or how good you are at figuring out how to hide money."
Blackmon was indicted in 2022.
Court documents reveal she intends to appeal the sentence.
