KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A former University of Tennessee Law employee has been sentenced after he plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud relating to $70,000 that was donated to the university and deposited into his own account, according to court documents.
Andrew Shafer plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud in U.S. District Court in August. He faced up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
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On February 9, Shafer was sentenced to 14 months in prison, three years of supervised released, and ordered to pay $70,000 in restitution.
While Shafer is on supervised release, he will be required to give his probation officer access to any requested financial information and he cannot get any new lines of credit without his probation officers permission until the restitution is paid in full.
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In March 2023, Shafer was indicted on the charges and court documents stated that he accepted two donation checks worth $70,000 while acting as the Senior Director of Advancement for the College of Law in 2021. Rather than those funds being appropriately managed, Shafer reportedly deposited them into his own account.