San Antonio serial fraudster sentenced for embezzling from multiple employers

SAN ANTONIO — Christopher D. Nugent received a 37-month prison sentence May 14, 2026, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas after pleading guilty to serial embezzlement from three employers, the Justice Department announced.

Nugent stole a total of $284,000. The scope of the fraud covered three separate San Antonio businesses where he held finance or accounting positions between 2018 and 2022. The largest single loss hit one employer for $187,000; the remaining two victims lost $64,000 and $33,000 respectively.

All three companies employed between 15 and 80 workers and operated without internal financial controls sufficient to detect the repeated unauthorized transfers and falsified records.

The sentence changes Nugent's status from pretrial release to immediate federal custody. He must report to the Bureau of Prisons designation center within 30 days of the May 14 judgment. Upon release he faces three years of supervised release. The court ordered full restitution of $284,000, payable jointly and severally, with payments beginning while Nugent is incarcerated through the Inmate Financial Responsibility Program.

Downstream the ruling requires the U.S. Attorney's Office to monitor compliance with the restitution schedule and coordinate with the probation office on asset forfeiture if any hidden accounts surface. The conviction also bars Nugent from future positions involving financial oversight under standard federal collateral consequences for fraud convictions.

The case forms part of the Western District of Texas priority on serial occupational fraud, in which the same perpetrator targets multiple unrelated employers in the same metropolitan area.

This marks the second major embezzlement sentencing in the Western District this year involving defendants who victimized more than one employer. The original charges cited wire fraud and aggravated identity theft statutes. The plea agreement filed in late 2025 eliminated the identity theft count in exchange for Nugent's admission to the full $284,000 loss amount and his agreement to provide complete financial disclosure.