Collection Agency Owner Faces 10 Years for Stealing from Client

The owner of a Florida student loan collection agency faces up to 10 years in prison for purposefully failing to remit $115,000 that the company had collected on behalf of Mississippi State University.

Nickie Bradley, owner of Cape Coral, Fla.-based H.W. Ketchum Collection Agency, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to one count of theft of public money. Because her agency was collecting on Perkins loans backed by the U.S. Department of Education on behalf of public university Mississippi State, the case was heard by a U.S. Magistrate Judge -- Sheri Polster Chappell -- and sentencing will follow federal guidelines.

Bradley could face 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and fined $250,000.

Bradley withheld the money her company collected on behalf of Mississippi State in 2006. The company had been experiencing financial difficulties since Bradley moved H.W. Ketchum from Michigan in 2001. The move prompted the migration of many of her local clients, such as the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

H.W. Ketchum had been in business for 27 years, according to court documents. At its height, it employed 21 people. But when business dried up after the move to Florida, Mississippi State was soon her only client. To keep the business afloat, Bradley began to delay the remittance of collected money to the school. She also took out lines of credit on her home to keep the business going. But H.W. Ketchum was forced to close in October.

Bradley told Chappell that she used Mississippi State’s money for business and personal purposes.

Because she cooperated with investigators, the U.S. attorney assigned to the case and Chappell agreed to release her without bond until her sentencing. A date has not been set for sentencing.