By Staff Report
A woman whose victims say stole more than $1 million from their business over nearly a decade
was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Pamela Lynn Wilson, 66, of Panama City, previously entered an “open plea” of No Contest to
Grand Theft over $100,000 and Organized Scheme to Defraud (more than $50,000). An “open
plea” means Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay would decide the sentence.
Prosecutor Peter Overstreet was prepared to present witnesses and evidence proving the
defendant, over a period of years, orchestrated false payouts that the victims believed totaled
between $800,000 and $1.2 million.
An audit conducted after $22,000 went missing in 2022 showed a total of 485 fraudulent checks
totaling $1.22 million were written during that time, an employee said at Friday’s sentencing.
“When someone steals this type of money, it’s not like stealing a TV from Wal-Mart, this is
different,” said Overstreet, who noted the defendant interacted daily with the victims while
knowing she was financially damaging their lives and business. “That’s a very cold thing to do to
a whole bunch of other people who trusted you.”
The defendant apologized to the family before her attorney asked for a 34.5-month sentence.
“They did not deserve what I did to them,” she said to Judge Gay. “I want them to know
truthfully how sorry I am. I fell into a hole of gambling addiction.”
Overstreet asked for a 20-year sentence, pointing to the victim’s testimony that the financial loss
damaged their business, paychecks, retirements, and income.
“Addiction is a horrible thing,” he said. “But she was treating (the victim’s business) like an
ATM machine. She went back to get more over and over and over … and because everyone
trusted her, she continued to siphon money away from this business.”
Basford thanked Panama City police for their work on the case, and the victims who provided
valuable information to the investigation.