AURORA | An Adams County District Court Judge on Tuesday sentenced an Aurora woman to 15 years in prison for stealing nearly $750,000 from her employer over a four-year period.
Alyssa Costa, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft, according to the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Costa swindled $744,813 while working as a payroll clerk for a paving contractor in Henderson from 2012 to 2016, according to the DA’s office. Costa began working at Metro Pavers Inc. in August 2012 and began inflating her salary shortly after she was hired.
Costa was living on Geneva Street in Aurora while working for the paving company, according to Sue Lindsay, spokeswoman for the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Costa was contracted to make about $35,000 per year, but paid herself $102,400 in 2013, $280,835 in 2014, $302,072 in 2015, and $283,057 in 2016, according to the DA’s office.
Michael Sasina, who owns the paving company in Adams County, said Costa diligently worked to hide her fraud by making sure no one else had access to the company’s payroll systems. At one point, she cut short a vacation so she could come back and address the company’s books.
“She went to great lengths to cover her tracks,” Sasina said of Costa at her sentencing hearing. “She deliberately did this and methodically planned it. This is a pattern. She has done it before and she will do this again.”
District Court Judge Tomee Crespin said Costa is a habitual offender and has repeatedly squandered chances for rehabilitation.
“This is your fourth felony conviction for crimes all similar in nature,” Crespin said of Costa in a statement. “You steal tremendous amount(s) of money from people in the community, including your own family. You continue to place the community at risk because of your actions.”
In addition to a prison sentence, Crespin ordered Costa to pay more than $863,000 in restitution.
A native of New York, Costa has been convicted of multiple theft, fraud and forgery charges in several Colorado jurisdictions since 2004, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation reports.
In 2005, she was sentenced to community service and a community corrections program for felony theft in Monument.
Months later, she received a nearly identical sentence for similar charges in Colorado Springs.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Robyn Cafasso pointed to Costa’s former charges when asking Crespin to impose a prison sentence.
“This defendant is a danger to the public,” Cafasso said in a statement. “If she’s out and she works, she will continue to steal from people.”