INDIANAPOLIS — After 8 years of being a fugitive on the run, one man is finally sentenced to 7 and a half years in federal prison.
From 2009 to 2011, Jody Trapp worked as the bookkeeper for Shelton Machinery in Fishers. While his job was to manage sending checks to vendors, Trapp instead stole over $2.2 million from the company.
Trapp would make funnel the money into his personal bank account. To cover it up the theft, Trapp made false or duplicate invoices for Shelton Machinery.
Investigators arrested Trapp in January of 2012. He was ordered to remain at his residence while on pretrial release. The next year, a couple weeks before he was due in court for a sentencing hearing and to change his plea to a guilty one, Trapp went on the run.
For the next eight years authorities lost Trapp until 2021, when Deputy U.S. Marshals found him in Utah living with a different name. He was arrested again and brought to Indiana to face his original trial.
The FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation teams helped investigate the case into Trapp.
“Mr. Trapp took advantage of his position and exploited his employer’s trust to divert funds for his personal use and then vanished for years leaving no resolution for the business and its clients,” said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Herbert J. Stapleton. “The dedication of all the law enforcement agencies involved in locating him and bringing him back to face the court demonstrates that the FBI and our partners will continue to investigate and pursue those who choose to enrich themselves at the expense of others.”
Back in Indiana this past summer, Trapp pled guilty to the his charges. He was sentenced to seven and a half years in federal prison, three years of probation, and ordered to pay back over $2.5 million in restitution to the victims of his embezzlement.
“Mr. Trapp has finally been held accountable for stealing millions of dollars from a company that trusted him and fleeing in an attempt to avoid the consequences,” said Zachary A. Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “The punishment imposed today demonstrates that those who try to obstruct and evade justice will ultimately be held accountable. I commend the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigations, and our determined partners at the U.S. Marshals Service for their determined efforts to investigate and apprehend the defendant.”
