OKEECHOBEE — Elizabeth Zerate Chavez was sentenced to three years probation after pleading no contest to grand theft. Chavez was arrested in August 2020 after embezzling funds from LaGranga Restaurant where she was employed as manager.

According to the report, Okeechobee City Police Detective Bettye Taylor and Sgt. Belen Reyna met with the LaGranja accountant in December 2019. He told them Chavez took $25,504 from the restaurant over a period of four months. Chavez was employed as manager in November 2018. She was in charge of making the daily deposits.

The accountant explained to the officers Chavez worked for the restaurant from May to July, and there were many shortages during that period. She left the company for a short time and was re-employed in August. During the time she was gone, there were no shortages, but the shortages began again as soon as she was rehired. He said they had no idea they had a problem until the bank account got low and they began investigating.

Chavez was confronted by the owner and accountant and admitted what she had done, signing a confession of guilt and agreeing to pay back the money. She paid them $6,000 but then stopped paying.

When Taylor talked to Chavez, Chavez told her she had only stolen $800 but later said she had paid the owners  $6,602. She said she only stopped making payments because the restaurant closed and she could not reach the owners. Chavez asked Taylor if she would still be arrested if she worked out a deal with the owners, and Taylor told her that was up to the owners. The owners told Taylor they did not want to work anything out with Chavez unless she paid all the money back at once, and she replied, “Well, I need time to come up with all that money. I still have to pay a person that loaned me money the first time I paid.”

As part of her sentence, Chavez was ordered to pay restitution. Judge Michael McNicholas withheld adjudication  in her case.