Poplar bookkeeper sentenced for embezzling over $150,000 from local company

GREAT FALLS - A Poplar bookkeeper who wrote unauthorized checks, modified payroll amounts, and utilized company checks and credit cards for unauthorized personal expenses was sentenced today to 6 months of imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Tim Racicot said.

Parker Lee Gray Hawk, 36, pleaded guilty in December 2025 to one count of wire fraud.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

The government alleged in court documents that Fort Peck Manufacturing, Inc., (FPM), with assistance from its bank, discovered Gray Hawk was taking money from the company. In late 2023, FPM learned their bank account had a negative balance based on some questionable transactions, including checks with wholly round numbers and no taxes withheld. All the questionable checks were signed by Parker Gray Hawk. A review of the bank statements indicated a number of checks written and signed by Gray Hawk to non-FPM employees. Gray Hawk also used the company credit card to make online purchases, including from Amazon, and initiated other unauthorized electronic payments, including to Apple, CashApp, PayPal, and Western Union.

Law enforcement interviewed the non-FPM employees to whom Gray Hawk wrote checks and they said she requested they cash the checks, and they would keep some of the money while Gray Hawk kept the rest.

Gray Hawk embezzled approximately $166,156.47 from FPM between 2021 and 2023 ($98,644.28 in fraudulent checks and $67,512.19 in fraudulent electronic transactions). Gray Hawk was ordered to pay $131,901.57 in restitution.

The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the case. The FBI and Fort Peck Tribes Department of Law & Justice conducted the investigation.

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