A Knoxville-area woman who pleaded guilty to pocketing $5.4 million in workers' compensation insurance premiums without providing policies has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports.

Andrea Rudd
(Twitter photo)

Andrea Ball Rudd, 38, was also ordered to pay more than $15 million in restitution.

In addition to pocketing insurance premiums paid to her professional employer organization, HR Comp LLC, she also stole $10.4 million in payroll taxes, prosecutors said.

Rudd founded HR Comp in 2010 and began fleecing small businesses almost immediately, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said she learned her tactics from her previous boss, Zebbie Joe Usher III of the PEO Service Provider Group. Usher is currently serving a 70-month federal prison sentence for similar crimes.