Former accounting professor pleads guilty to grand theft

A former assistant professor of accounting at the University of Tampa has pleaded guilty to stealing $120,000 from the American Spaniel Club. She was accused of writing 71 Spaniel Club checks to herself between July 2006 and March 2007 to feed an Internet gambling addiction.

Instead of doing jail time, Lippincott, now a part-time accounting professor at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, was sentenced to 15 years' probation. During that time, she is required to pay $500 a month until June 2009 and $1,000 a month after that until her probation ends, the Tampa Tribune reported.
Some of the money will go directly to the spaniel club; the rest will be used to repay the club's insurance carrier.

Lippincott was arrested last August after the theft was discovered. She had been serving as the club's treasurer, a volunteer position. The 71 checks were written from her home, during the period from July 1006 to March 2007. According to Gregory Nobel, an economic crimes detective with the Pasco County, FL sheriff's office, Lippincott had developed a habit of playing online video slot machines.

Lippincott holds a doctorate degree from University of Missouri and has extensive experience in public accounting and banking, according to a publication from the University of Florida, where she taught previously. Lippincott also raises cocker spaniels for show.