Controller sentenced

A Shelton man who acted as controller for a Shelton manufacturing company has been sentenced to a year in prison for embezzling more than $665,000 in company funds.

Jesse Arden Sherman, 63, of Elma, was the controller and chief financial officer for Sims Vibration Laboratory doing business as LimbSaver, an outdoor equipment company manufacturing archery and firearms accessories, among other items, in Shelton.

Sherman “manually created payroll checks to himself” for more than his approved salary, signed the checks on behalf of SVL, then recorded the manually created checks as “void” so that the checks wouldn’t appear in the SVL accounting system, according to charging documents filed in U.S. District Court for Western District of Washington in November 2024.

“Sherman’s fraud resulted in a loss to the company of at least $665,840. As a certified public accountant Sherman knew that he owed taxes on the money he obtained by fraud, but he failed to pay the $202,196 he owed on his taxes between 2013 and 2018,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington.

“Despite personal and professional privileges, Sherman elected to create a multi-faceted fraud scheme, which he deployed repeatedly over the years to unjustly enrich himself. Although he claims his gambling drove his behaviors, Sherman had the means and self-recognition to address this issue and instead of doing so he instead re-committed to his scheme over and over again to the detriment of SVL, SVL employees, SVL business partners, and Sherman’s family,” prosecutors said in a statement.

Sherman has agreed to make restitution to the company of $665,840 and to the IRS of $202,196.

He was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison and three years of supervised release.