LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — An office manager, accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from several Las Vegas-area dental practices, will serve prison time and pay back the stolen money, court documents said.
Danielle Powers, 42, was charged with six counts of theft and five counts of embezzlement, the 8 News Now I-Team first reported last month. In all, Powers was accused of stealing money while working for three dental practices across the Las Vegas valley.
Powers was accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Desert Hills Dental over a 5-year span, court documents said. Evidence in that criminal case included surveillance video, which prosecutors said shows Powers coming back to work and taking $7,000 left on her desk.
A video on the dental practice’s Facebook page shared with the I-Team features Powers saying, “Our goal here at Desert Hills Dental is always to make your dentistry affordable.” Another post celebrates Powers’ birthday, calling her “the most fabulous office manager ever.”
In April 2021, a dentist at Smile Vegas Dental on Blue Diamond Road near Durango Drive told police Powers had stolen more than $10,000 from his business, police said. The owner and dentist at the practice said he hired Powers in June 2020.
In November 2021, a third dentist filed a report with police, saying she too was a victim. That dentist hired Powers in September 2021 and said $3,600 was missing.
According to an agreement filed Monday, Powers agreed to plead guilty to two counts of embezzlement and one charge of theft.
As part of the plea deal, Powers will serve at least one year in prison and she will have to pay restitution to all the dental practices. The owner of Desert Hills Dental, Dr. Deborah Staten, won a separate civil lawsuit against Powers for restitution.
The agreement notes a fourth LVMPD case investigated in April 2022 involving a cleaning company, but details about that investigation were not immediately available Wednesday. As part of the plea deal, Powers will not face charges for that incident nor the third dentist-related theft. All other charges will be dismissed.
The exact amount of time Powers could serve in prison is up to a judge’s discretion. The plea deal outlines a timeframe of up to 10 years.
In 2004, Powers pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a controlled substance after police said she was writing and filling fraudulent prescriptions from another Las Vegas dentist.
Powers was expected to formally enter her plea before a judge next week. She remained in jail on Wednesday where she was being held without bail.
