A Kalispell woman was given 14 months in prison and three years of supervised release in U.S. District Court in Missoula on Wednesday for stealing more than $500,000 from her family business over a period of four years.

Rita Pierce, 59, joined her family's business, Pierce Manufacturing, in 1987, where she worked until 2020. In 2016, according to court documents, she started using her position as bookkeeper to funnel money out of the business account for personal use. She was caught in 2020 by her father, who fired her and wrote her out of his will, according to testimony. Pierce was then sued by the company and was ordered to pay them $80,000 as a result of that case. As part of the federal sentencing, she will have to pay an additional $416,881.03 in restitution.

The defense requested

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