A Hayden woman who pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $162,000 from her former employer, some of which she repaid, received a jail sentence, according to the Idaho State Tax Commission.

Rachel B. Berger pleaded guilty in November 2024 to three counts of income tax evasion, as well as grand theft and perjury. 

First District Judge Casey Simmons sentenced Berger to 15 years in prison, with parole eligibility after 10 years. The court then suspended Berger’s sentence, ordering her to serve 120 days of actual jail time and placing her on supervised probation for 10 years. Berger must also complete 300 hours of community service and pay more than $70,500 in restitution to her former employer. 

In 2017, Berger began working as a receptionist and eventually took on most of the business’s bookkeeping responsibilities. In 2022, authorities said, one of the business owners noticed discrepancies in their financial books and credit card balances. 

Further review revealed that Berger had used business credit cards to cover more than $162,000 in personal expenses, including rent, flights, hotels and online purchases. The business received a repayment of more than $92,000. 

By failing to report the embezzled funds, Berger willfully evaded taxes on her Idaho individual income tax returns for 2020, 2021 and 2022, according to the Idaho State Tax Commission. 

“Intentionally misreporting earnings or concealing income on a tax return is fraud,” Tax Commission Chairman Jeff McCray said in a news release. “By law, taxpayers are required to include all income on their taxes — even income they get illegally.”