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Hearing scheduled for former SC Hospitality Association employee
Posted: 04.24.2012 at 7:32 PM
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Prosecutors say that a hearing has been scheduled for Rachel Ducan in Columbia on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.  / LinkedIn
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COLUMBIA (WACH, AP) -- A former employee of the South Carolina Hospitality Association who admitted she embezzled nearly $500,000 from the group whose director killed himself earlier this year will be in court Wednesday.

Prosecutors say that a hearing has been scheduled for Rachel Ducan in Columbia on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

United States District Court Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr. will preside over the hearing.

Federal court documents  show that Duncan entered an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion.

Duncan is expected to plead guilty. If she does, she faces 23 years in prison and $350,000 in fines.

Prosecutors say the former accounting director took the money from the group from 2006 until this year and used much of it for online gambling.

Tom Sponseller led the association for decades before killing himself in February. Police say Sponseller left a suicide note in which he detailed his despair over Duncan's apparent misdeeds, saying he was despondent they happened on his watch.

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(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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