United Group Insurance

Iowa woman gets prison time for tossing employer’s mail

News

December 6th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a north-central Iowa woman who threw away her employer’s mail in an effort to avoid having her wages garnished has been sentenced to 90 days in prison. Prosecutors say 55-year-old Terri Cosgrove, of Badger, was sentenced Tuesday in Cedar Rapids’ federal court. She had pleaded guilty in August to one count of obstruction of correspondence.

Officials say Cosgrove was supposed to be paying toward an order for nearly $190,000 in restitution for a 2004 bank fraud conviction. After repeated attempts to collect, the federal government sent a garnishment letter to Cosgrove’s employer. When the employer didn’t respond, police questioned Cosgrove. She told investigators she had destroyed the garnishment paperwork sent to her employer because she did not want her wages garnished.