Former Key West Association of Realtors Executive Gets Prison Time for Embezzlement

                                                                                                               Photo credit Key West Citizen

Ydaris Wood, former executive director of the Key West Association of Realtors, was led out of Monroe County Circuit Court in handcuffs last Thursday after being sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by twenty-five years on probation. She was ordered to pay $175,035 in restitution to the Association and an additional $35,000 to insurance companies plus administrative fees and court costs. 

She was charged with  embezzling nearly $280,000 from the Key West Association of Realtors between 2016 - 2017. She abruptly quit here job in March 2017 and left Key West without prior notice. She allegedly destroyed all office files and bank records and took the Association's computer with her - all except for some tell-tale records left in the document destruction box which had not been touched. Those records helped the Association and police reconstruct records which led to defining the length of time, scope, financial loss incurred in the embezzlement. She fled to Kentucky with her husband and children but was later extradited back to Key West in December 2017.

In March 2018 she plead guilty to felony theft of over $100,000. Last Thursday I sat in the courtroom for about two hours with more than twenty fellow Realtors to attend her sentencing. Her attorney offered mitigating evidence to justify a lenient sentence. A psychologist described very personal childhood experiences Ydaris endured suggesting they were an excuse for her behavior as an adult.   The psychologist testified about the impact her recent life altering medical diagnosis had on her.  

The past and current association presidents testified about the betrayal of trust they and fellow Realtors felt upon discovering the embezzlement. They testified Ydaris had set up an American Express card in the Association's name where she charged over $252,000. Monthly credit card statements ranged from $2,613 to $32,249. Embezzled funds were used to help pay for a Camaro automobile and a new Nissan truck. Ydaris created a false set of Association bank records which showed a balance of $190,000 when she left. The true balance was less than $6,000.