Bellevue Woman Sentenced to Nine Months for Embezzlement

United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that Joya M. Kinney, 45, of Bellevue, Nebraska, was sentenced on September 24, 2025, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for one count of embezzlement from an organization that received federal benefits. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Kinney to 9 months' imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Kinney's release from prison, she will begin a 3-year term of supervised release. Kinney was additionally ordered to pay $495,652.13 in restitution.

From 2014 until her termination in May 2023, Kinney was the bookkeeper for an incorporated private school located in Nebraska. This school received a Paycheck Protection Program loan in the amount of approximately $302,500 under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. As the bookkeeper for the school, Kinney was responsible for handling funds and making financial entries into the school's accounting system.

In May of 2023, an outside auditor reported inconsistencies in the school's accounting records. When confronted, Kinney admitted to school staff that she had conducted four $10,000 cash withdrawals the auditor identified, which were not authorized by the school. Kinney was then terminated from her position.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted an investigation and found additional financial losses at the school. Specifically, records and other evidence gathered by the FBI showed that between March 2016 to May 2023, Kinney embezzled approximately $452,176 from school funds, which included taking cash, using school funds to pay her personal credit card, making unauthorized purchases charged to the school, and receiving unauthorized checks.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bellevue Police Department.