RUGBY – A Towner woman has been sentenced after entering a guilty plea to charges that she committed theft, forgery and used personal identifying information while employed as the bookkeeper for a Rugby business.

Ashley Ryan, 28, Towner, was charged with the three felony charges in April shortly after returning from a vacation to find Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents waiting to interview her at work. Ryan’s employer alerted authorities after discovering she had written and cashed more than $10,000 to herself, telling investigators she had utilized a signature stamp to approve the checks while entering false notations to mask the disbursements as expenses.

Court documents indicated her employer and investigators estimated Ryan had diverted more than $120,000 to herself, beginning in July 2022, but upon her arrest she claimed she only had $3,000 remaining.

Ryan appeared in Northeast District Court in Rugby on Monday for her sentencing, having entered a change of plea to guilty at the end of July. District Court Judge Michael Hurly was presented with recommendations from both sides, along with a letter of apology from Ryan and five character letters provided on her behalf.

Hurley sentenced Ryan to a concurrent sentence of 10 years in the Dakota Women’s Correctional Rehab Center in New England, to first serve two years before consideration for release, with credit for 46 days already served. Ryan will be required to complete three years of supervised probation upon release and have no contact with or come within 100 yards of her former employer. Ryan was assessed $120,000 in restitution to be paid to the victim and must comply with the payment agreement.