Texas woman pleads guilty to stealing $1.2 million from former employer to buy TikTok coins

SOUTHLAKE, Texas (TCN) -- A woman recently pleaded guilty to stealing over $1 million from her former employer and purchasing "lavish trips" and other forms of entertainment with the funds.

According to a Aug. 14 news release from the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office, Staci Blackmon pleaded guilty to two counts of theft over $300,000. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison for each.

Prosecutors said Blackmon stole a total of $1.2 million from her former employer's account and the company's bank account. According to KDFW-TV, Blackmon worked for a luxury home building business.

Blackmon allegedly began using a senior partner's bank account in 2019 after his death.

Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Lori Varnell told KDFW that Blackmon "befriended the heir of this senior partner and was helping her figure out where all he had accounts and all of this, and so she was literally walking through this with the person she was victimizing."

Blackmon reportedly spent $900,000 on TikTok with the company's credit card to purchase and send TikTok coins in hopes of gaining a following and becoming an influencer. TikTok coins are "in-app currencies bought with real money."

Prosecutors said the defendant also purchased a Dallas Mavericks Suite with stolen funds.

According to KDFW, the company eventually uncovered the years of theft, and Blackmon was indicted in 2022.

Varnell reportedly said, "She is extremely intelligent. She only ever graduated from high school, but that is no measure of how intelligent you are or how good you are at figuring out how to hide money — and she is very good at that."

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