A former federal prosecutor in West Virginia has avoided prison time after admitting she used stolen identities to open and profit from online gambling accounts.
Monica Dillon, who spent nearly two decades prosecuting white-collar crimes, pleaded guilty to five counts of identity theft under a plea agreement approved by US District Judge Kenneth E. Bell. The case was transferred to a judge from North Carolina because of Dillon’s long history working in the Southern District of West Virginia, where she previously served as an assistant US attorney.
Court filings say Dillon used the identities of five victims between January 2021 and January 2023 to create online gambling accounts. Prosecutors stated that she earned at least $1,000 from three of those accounts, although no gambling operators were identified in the case. Online casino gaming and mobile sports betting are legal in West Virginia.
Under the agreement, Dillon must pay $30,000 in restitution to one victim and complete two years of probation. She will not serve jail time. Without the plea deal, she could have faced up to 20 years in prison and fines totaling $500,000.
Dillon’s legal career included work as an adviser to the Federal Bureau of Prisons before joining the US Attorney’s Office in West Virginia in 2005. From 2021 to 2024, she led the district’s white-collar fraud team, overseeing investigations into financial crimes, healthcare fraud and civil rights violations.
Her law licence in West Virginia was voluntarily annulled earlier this year after disciplinary proceedings were initiated against her. Reports indicate the action effectively acknowledged she was facing allegations she could not successfully contest.
The filings do not explain how Dillon obtained the victims’ identities or why she turned to online gambling fraud. However, records show she filed for bankruptcy in 2022 while the identity theft scheme was ongoing and while she was still practicing law.