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Watts sentenced to prison |
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January 5. 2011 |
Despite confessing to her crime, working to make
reparations and a plea agreement she thought was
iron-clad, Judge Steven Verby today handed down
a hard sentence against Jennifer Watts, setting
aside
a plea agreement she'd reached with county
prosecutors.
Instead of making her pay more than $130,000 in
restitution, serve 180 days in the county jail
and serve a long term of probation, as had been
set in a plea deal, Verby apparently chose
instead to make an example of Jennfer Watts, 40,
Bonners Ferry, because, he said, she had
the background and experience to know better.
Charged with three counts of grand theft for
taking money from her employer over the three
years she worked for the International Selkirk
Loop, Watts never denied that she'd made a
mistake, exacerbated by her love of gaming. She
didn't keep the money, she said ... she lost it
in the machines at the Kootenai River Inn.
While she disagreed with the amount her boss
Carol Graham said she may have taken from the
International Selkirk Loop, she agreed early on
to pay it back, and she never denied her guilt.
At her sentencing hearing today, she gave Carol
and the organization letters of apology, even
while Graham testified against her.
Verby determined that, based on Jennifer's past
experience as a Montana judge, as office manager
in the Boundary County prosecutor's office and
because she'd been going through Idaho Police
Officer and Standards Training (POST) so as to
qualify for a law enforcement position in Bonner
County, she should well have known better.
He then handed down a harsh sentence; one year
in prison, determinate, four years
indeterminate. He ordered that she pay the
International Selkik Loop $130,000 restitution
and court costs. That was, for the most part,
normal.
In most such cases, this kind of sentence is
expected; the judge typically lays down the law
and then retains jurisdiction, meaning the
convict can do a few months at Cottonwood, do
well and be released on probation.
To the shock of most in the court, Verby didn't
retain jurisdiction, but remanded Jennifer
immediately to the custody of the Sheriff's
Office, to be made ready for immediate transport
to state prison, where she will serve at least a
full year before she can be considered for
parole.
Though she cried, Jennifer stoically walked to
jail, her husband at her side every step of the
way.
In the wake of the ruling, even some prisoners
wondered what Jennifer did to piss off Judge
Verby.
"I can understand that he needs to set an
example," one trusteee said during a break in
raking up leaves, "But I don't know if he chose
the right example. It doesn't seem fair. This
one could bite him in the ass in the next
election." |
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