Shreveport Man Sentenced for Stealing $400K from Employer

A Shreveport man convicted of stealing nearly $400,000 from a privately-held hospice company has been sentenced.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, 50-year-old Demar Watson will serve just over three years in prison on one count of federal program theft. He's also sentenced to three years of supervised release and has to pay restitution.

According to evidence presented at his December 8, 2015, guilty plea, Watson worked as the office manager for a Shreveport hospice provider in 2012 and 2013. He was in charge of paying bills, payroll and reconciling the financials for the company.

In November 2013, Watson asked the business owner to sign three blank checks he said would be used to pay bills for the company. Watson wrote one of the checks to himself in the amount of $210,000, then bought a $140,000 Mercedes for a female escort. He also electronically transferred $90,000 from the hospice accounts to his personal bank accounts.

Watson also used a business credit card for personal items, a trip to Mexico with a female escort, and several very expensive gifts.