Woman sentenced for defrauding employer

ST. LOUIS -- A St. Louis-area woman was sentenced Wednesday to two years and nine months in federal prison on a charge that she diverted $631,000 from her employer to pay her online gambling debts. Natalie Birmingham, 35, also was ordered to reimburse Automated Installment Systems Inc., the Creve Coeur company where she had worked as an accounts manager. Birmingham pleaded guilty Sept. 1 to a felony wire-fraud count. Authorities said that between October 2002 and March of this year, Birmingham transferred money from several finance companies represented by her employer into her own bank account.