A Shelby County woman was sentenced to 26 months in federal prison after she pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $1 million from the surgical practice where she had worked for 15 years.

U.S. District Judge Karon Bowdre sentenced Betty Jo “BJ” Latsis, 58, of Birmingham on Tuesday, and required her to pay $600,000 restitution.

Latsis pleaded guilty back in January to one count of wire fraud, and required to pay $400,000 back to her victims by the time of sentencing, which she did.

According to the plea agreement, from 2005 until 2020, Latsis, a registered nurse, worked as office manager and administrator at Colon & Rectal Surgical Associates of Birmingham. She handled bookkeeping and accounting for the practice.

Prosecutors said between 2013 and 2020, Latsis transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars from practice accounts to a PayPal account she controlled, paying herself and using practice funds to pay off her personal credit card bills and those of her spouse.

In addition, she used credit card accounts in doctors’ names to pay personal expenses, including a “7 Night Northern European CityScapes” Royal Caribbean cruise for her and her spouse. She also used practice funds to pay car lease payments, life insurance premiums, and even an $8,000 home entertainment system from Best Buy for herself and her spouse.

Assistant U.S. Attorney J.B. Ward prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.