The woman that was accused of stealing nearly $900,000 from Hastings and Havlik Dentistry in Mattoon over a five year span, has pleaded guilty to all charges against her.
Rebecca S. Gutierrez, a 50 year old woman from Charleston, entered guilty pleas Thursday to five federal counts of wire fraud after the reported theft from Hastings and Havlik Family Dentistry. Gutierrez had been working as an ‘office manager’ at the location starting back in 2019 and roughly a year after that promotion, she began embezzling from the business.
From there, Gutierrez had begun using her access to the business’ checking account to funnel money to her personal Discover card. The “personal” payments she made happened up to five times per month and continued from June 2020 until September 30, 2025. Not long after that payment, Gutierrez had been targeted in an extensive investigation and it was thought enough evidence existed to bring about charges.
The case first drew attention when the theft was estimated at somewhere between $500,000 and $1,000,000. When federal charges were filed in February, because of the large amount of money stolen, new documents narrowed that figure to approximately $900,000! If this figure stays, it would make Gutierrez’s case one of the most significant embezzlement cases in our area’s history.
The federal indictment noted that Hastings and Havlik Dentistry maintained its business checking account with First Mid Bank and Trust, which processed transfers through servers at a data center in Georgia. What this meant was it established the “interstate wire communication” element needed for the federal wire fraud charges that Gutierrez has now plead guilty to.
Each of the five counts Gutierrez pleaded guilty to represents a specific instance of a fraudulent transfer.
She is scheduled to be sentenced on November 26th, 2026.
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