A former North Platte travel agent will spend the next three to five years in prison after she was convicted of stealing thousands of dollars from clients.

In December of 2015, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received information from a Moorefield couple that they had possibly been scammed by a travel agent in North Platte.

The couple reported that they had booked a large family vacation to Hawaii in February of 2015 through a travel agent, later identified as Ella Mae Sculley.  The couple alleged that they made two large payments to Sculley but began finding problems with the vacation plans.

According to Investigators, the couple contacted the parent travel company and found that their vacation had not been booked.  They say they made numerous attempts to contact Sculley but got no response.

After a lengthy investigation into Sculley’s business banking accounts, it was determined that Sculley had indeed received two checks from the alleged victims, but did not make any payments to the parent travel company.

It was determined that the couple has lost over $18,000 due to the incident.

On February 11, 2015, Sculley was contacted by law enforcement and placed under arrest.  She was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center and charged with felony theft by deception.

On Monday, Lincoln County District Court Judge Donald Rowlands sentenced Sculley to three to five years at the Nebraska Women’s Prison, in York.

Rowlands noted that a previous theft conviction, in which Sculley was convicted of stealing $8,000 when she worked for Goodwill, in Lexington, meant that he had no choice but to send her to prison.

Sculley must also pay over $30,000 in restitution.