Posted on 08/01/2004 2:39:00 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Woman sentenced for bilking 89-year-old
By Juliette Rule rep9@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
CHEYENNE - She was a trusted accountant controlling the assets of an elderly Laramie woman who considered her family.
But over six years, more than money was stolen by 56-year-old Donna Christine Curran, who goes by Chris. Curran was sentenced in U.S. District Court on Friday to serve two years in a federal prison and pay $232,000 in restitution.
Dixie Ward, 89, might now be able to afford the travel Curran told her she couldn't afford, but a broken ankle and hip injury make travel difficult, according to a letter written by Ward.
It is one of the saddest and most interesting elements of the case, assistant U.S. attorney Lisa Leschuck said. Leschuck read part of the letter aloud in court.
In May, Curran pleaded guilty to one count each of mail fraud and tax evasion before U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer.
Why she stole at least $189,000 from Ward is a question that puzzled the judge.
Brimmer asked Curran why she, a woman "making a good living and living a good life," would steal another's money.
"If I had an answer for that question, I would probably sleep better at night," Curran said.
A prosecutor offered one answer: Greed. The stolen money wasn't sent to charitable groups, but credited to credit card bills loaded with debt for stuff from which Curran, her husband and children benefited, Leschuck said.
The conviction muddies the otherwise criminally crystal clear record of Curran, who worked for the Laramie firm of certified public accountant Pauline M. Dunnuck.
The firm, along with Curran and her partners in separate enterprises, faces civil action filed in Albany County District Court on behalf of Ward in April.
Now Curran is being held responsible for repaying Ward and whatever the IRS requires, Brimmer said in court.
The amount she owes to the government for failing to report more than $10,000 in income in any or all of those six years of stealing is in negotiation, but in the meanwhile, Curran is taking steps to repay Ward. That includes the sale of her interests in Duck LLC and Eagle Properties and the liquidation of her retirement assets, defense attorney Gay Woodhouse told the court.
Family members of both the victim and defendant, who isn't a CPA, were seated on either side of the courtroom aisle Friday afternoon.
They listened as Curran said she was remorseful and apologetic - statements then challenged by Brimmer, who said she hadn't convinced a probation officer of that.
"I feel extremely guilty about this," Curran responded in a soft voice.
Curran isn't an animated person, Woodhouse said, noting Curran's feelings might not be fully understood by the probation officer.
"She has a long history of being an honest person," Woodhouse said.
Woodhouse called the case "baffling" and an aberration. She supposed the embezzlement "mushroomed" from small dollar amounts and denial to large sums of money and more denial.
Those, Brimmer said, were the "usual reasons" offered by an embezzler in court.
Curran siphoned off thousands of dollars at a time, writing checks on Ward's account, then dummying the carbon copies to make it appear Ward's bills were being paid. Sometimes checks were written to herself. It was a course she set on in January 1999 that was interrupted by prosecutors in April, court records indicate.
In September 2002, the burden apparently weighed on Curran, who wrote in a confessional letter to Ward that she had stolen $13,778 from her. The real tally by then was $80,000, and that wasn't reflected in Curran's tax returns, prosecutors said.
But it was the last sentence in Ward's letter that swayed the judge. In it, Ward asked for compassion for Curran so she "might become the person I believe she once was."
Leschuck also endorsed a sentence on the low end of the federal guidelines, which on the two charges spanned 24-30 months.
Brimmer said he had decided 27 months was appropriate, but Ward's letter and Leschuck's endorsement led him to order 24 months, all of which will be served in the federal system without chance of early release.
Curran must report to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons by noon Sept. 1, giving her a month to organize her affairs, Brimmer said as he recommended the Victorville, Calif., facility.
The maximum sentences allowed under federal law for mail fraud and tax evasion totaled 23 years in prison, but guidelines placed Curran in the 24-30 month term bracket, according to court records.
She should have just married the guy.... but then maybe she isn't ... um.. whats her face...
"She has a long history of being an honest person," Woodhouse said.
SURE
It is called GREED.
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