A Chanhassen woman was sentenced to four years in prison Friday for stealing more than $525,000 in incoming checks to her employer and depositing them into her own bank accounts.

Dawn Harriet Curtis, 47, received the sentence from Judge Richard Perkins for seven felony counts of aggravated forgery.

Assistant Carver County Attorney David Hunt called the offense "an egregious employee theft crime involving 407 separate acts of check fraud, all done by the defendant while she was being paid a generous salary by her employer."

Curtis worked for 26 years as a customer service representative for Island View Entertainment Company in Chaska and its subsidiary, Stoney-Wolf Productions. Both companies are family-owned businesses in Carver County.

The criminal complaint alleged that from 2009 to 2012, Curtis put incoming checks from Island View's clients into bank accounts in her name or in the name of a phony company that she incorporated.

Curtis allegedly spent nearly all of the money paying off personal debts and living a lavish lifestyle.

Curtis' attorney argued at the hearing for a non-prison sentence, but Hunt countered that state sentencing guidelines presume a 48-month sentence.

Tom Meersman