WELD COUNTY, Colo. — A Milliken woman was sentenced to two years in jail after pleading guilty to charges related to an elaborate money-laundering scheme that unraveled in 2016, according to the Weld County District Attorney's Office.
Jana Koretko, 51, pleaded guilty to money laundering, a class 3 felony in December 2019.
That guilty plea stems from her work as a digital publisher and author from 2014 through 2016.
Koretko started as a romance, erotica, and fiction author. Her pen names included: Jana Leigh, Leigh Brock, Harley McRide, Zach Collins, RA Baker, Shelby Lynn, and several others.
Koretko also started JK Publishing, where she signed several authors and published their work through various online book sites such as Amazon, iTunes, and Barnes & Noble.
In 2016, several authors believed Koretko was stealing royalties from them and reported her to the Weld County District Attorney’s Office.
Investigators learned that Koretko was changing book sales reports from the online sites, and reporting fewer sales to her authors.
In one case, the DA said Koretko stole nearly $100,000 from a single author, Avery Gale. At least three other authors were also victimized.
Investigators said Koretko hid her extra income and failed to properly report it on her taxes for several years. She used false tax returns when applying for financial aid to help pay for her daughters’ college education, according to the DA.
On Feb. 14, a Weld County judge sentenced Koretko to two years of jail and 10 years of supervised probation.
She was also ordered to pay nearly $197,000 back to her victims.
“I’m going to hold your feet to the fire,” Judge Thomas Quammen told the defendant. “Paying back this restitution is a specific condition of your probation. If you do not pay this restitution on probation, you certainly can not pay it while in prison.”
If Koretko is unsuccessful on probation, she faces up to 12 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections.
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