Former employee gets prison after stealing $300,000 from Bradenton’s Chop Shop
A former Bradenton butcher shop employee will serve prison time after prosecutors said she stole hundreds of thousands from the business, according to court records.
A Manatee County judge sentenced 54-year-old Felicia Stivers to nearly 2 years in prison followed by more than 28 years of probation after prosecutors say she stole as much as $300,000 from The Chop Shop, a local specialty butcher shop and longtime Manatee County staple in West Bradenton.
An attorney representing Stivers did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Herald’s request for comment.
The investigation began after the owner of the family-run meat and seafood shop reported suspicious financial activity to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. According to an arrest report, the owner discovered a pattern of cash reversals in the store’s system dating back to 2022.
Detectives said they later determined Stivers stole between $150,000 and $300,000 from the store over two years through fraudulent activity.
The owner told detectives the theft went unnoticed for so long largely because of the amount of trust placed in Stivers, who worked as a cashier at the longtime Bradenton butcher shop for about three years.
Stivers handled payroll, bank runs and cash reversals, and she and the owner were the only two employees authorized to perform those reversals, according to an arrest report.
After noticing the discrepancies, the owner checked surveillance footage from a period of a couple of weeks and provided the videos to detectives, who said the footage appeared to show Stivers pocketing around $6,000 from the business.
When confronted by the owner and later detectives, investigators said Stivers admitted to stealing money but described the figures presented by the owner as a “shock” and insisted she did not take “anywhere near” the alleged amount.
Deputies with the Desoto County Sheriff’s Office arrested Stivers in June 2024. She initially pleaded not guilty before later entering a no-contest plea ahead of a scheduled trial, according to court records.
Circuit Judge Matt Whyte also ordered that Stivers not work in positions handling money for third parties without approval during probation, according to court records. He also ordered her to pay restitution, with the amount to be determined later. Stivers is required to put 75% of unexpected income and tax returns toward that restitution, complete theft-related courses and avoid contact with the victims.
Court records show prosecutors dropped a second, lesser fraud charge filed in the case.
