A Huntington Beach woman will serve 2.5 years in federal prison after stealing nearly $3 million from her employer, a Garden Grove noodle company, over the course of nearly six years.

Tae Miyaji Jones, 50, was sentenced this week after pleading guilty in October to seven counts of mail fraud and three counts of wire fraud. From December 2017 to July 2023, Jones used her position as an account manager at Sanyo Foods Corp. of America to transfer money from company accounts into her own bank accounts without authorization, federal prosecutors said.

The job gave her access to the tools she needed. Jones handled accounting and financial operations for the Garden Grove-based company, which included control over its bank accounts, financial records, and the authority to sign checks. She used all of it.

Prosecutors said she spent the stolen money on diamond necklaces, pearl earrings, designer bags and wallets, as well as home mortgages, car loans, and credit card bills. She also bought real estate in Alabama and Hawaii using the funds — properties she was ordered to forfeit as part of the case.

In one instance cited by prosecutors, Jones mailed a $42,600 company check to American Express in July 2023 to pay down her personal credit card balance. On company records, she logged it as a vendor expense.

In total, Jones admitted to embezzling more than $2.89 million. She was ordered to repay the full amount in restitution.

Her attorney, Joseph Pittera, said Jones cooperated with federal prosecutors and the FBI and had no prior criminal record. “She regrets what she did and said so in court,” Pittera said. “Given her cooperation and the outcome of the case, we believe a sentence at the low end was fair.”

Sanyo Foods Corp. of America is a Garden Grove-based subsidiary of the Japanese food manufacturer, best known for Sapporo Ichiban instant noodles.