20-05-2025
Jupiter woman stole from one boss to pay restitution to another. Now she'll pay in prison.
A judge has sentenced a 63-year-old Jupiter woman to six years in prison after she pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $1 million from a former employer.
Michele Nichols pleaded guilty May 13 to one count apiece of money laundering over $100,000 or more and of organizing a scheme to defraud. She also pleaded guilty to violating the terms of her probation in a 2023 fraud case.
Nichols deposited some of the money she embezzled in a bank account she used to pay $550,000 in restitution in the first fraud case, according to her arrest report.
Circuit Judge Daliah Weiss approved a plea deal for Nichols in the 2023 case. This time, Weiss immediately sentenced her to 72 months in prison.
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Jupiter police previously alleged that Nichols used her position as a financial controller for Jupiter-based Fitzhugh Holdings LLC to steal about $1.2 million during nearly three years of employment.
Online records indicate that Fitzhugh Holdings is a conglomeration of retail art dealers representing artists from various countries. Investigators said Nichols used her access to the company's payroll system to deposit money into six personal bank accounts.
John Caldwell, the owner of Fitzhugh Holdings, told investigators a former company vice president hired Nichols in December 2021 after a recruiting company referred her, according to Nichols' arrest report.
He said he contacted police in May 2024 after discovering inconsistent beginning and ending weekly balances while reviewing a budget analysis that Nichols had created.
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The arrest report said Caldwell learned through an online search that Nichols had previously been arrested and charged with embezzling funds from another company. In May 2023, Nichols pleaded to guilty to grand theft over $100,000 from American Tax Funding LLC, a Jupiter company where she worked for 11 years as a bookkeeper.
In that case, Weiss placed Nichols on 10 years of probation and ordered her to pay $550,000 in restitution. Records show that, while employed by Fitzhugh Holdings, she fraudulently deposited money into a bank account that was used to repay American Tax Funding.
Caldwell told investigators that Nichols also requested a $20,000 advance for a matter involving property taxes, but did not pay it back as agreed. He also noted that in 2024 Nichols had no deductions from her paychecks for health care.
Nicholas received credit for 104 days of time served in the Palm Beach County Jail, court records show.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@ and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jupiter woman sentenced for stealing $1.2 million from employer
