Thief has nothing to cry about

I read the story twice about Carrie L. Whalen stealing money from the non-profit group she headed and still can’t figure out why she was crying in court after pleading guilty and effectively getting no sentence for the crime. She should have been dancing. http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20090826/NEWS05/308269965

She got no time in jail. She got no fine. She was basically ordered not to steal from her employer anymore – but if she did plan on continuing her career as a white collar criminal, the court said she couldn’t do it at a non-profit agency for at least a year. She was also ordered to pay back the $25,500 she stole from Citizens Against Violent Crimes. It was sort of a slap on the wrist without the slap or the wrist.

I may be missing something, but here’s how all this adds up to me: Whalen orchestrated a scheme that amounted to getting an interest-free loan for more than a year without having to put down any collateral. Her sentence was a pretty sweet deal, not punishment for a crime. It also seems to be par for the courts.

Former Denmark Supervisor Daniel L. Hurlburt earlier this year admitted to taking $11,511 from his town’s coffers while in office. Debra L. Degone a few years ago stole $17,000 from Key Bank in Watertown. Both copped pleas similar to what Whalen walked away with: Pay the money back and go home. No jail. No fines.

I don’t see the deterrent value in such sentencing. It sends the message that if you steal from your employer, you either a.) get away with it. b.) get away with it for a while and then have to repay the loan. You face a greater penalty for driving a few miles an hour faster than the posted speed limit on Route 11.

I wonder if Whalen got caught speeding on the way to turn herself in for stealing this week. That might explain her crying jag in front of the judge – she faced actually having to pay something for a crime she committed. Maybe that is what made her sad.

Her tears might have made more sense if she had some sort of sorrowful tale to tell the court when being sentenced. You know, like she needed the money she stole to pay for quadruple-bypass surgery on a favorite aunt who was left penniless after sending her life-savings to an orphaned prince in Nigeria. Or maybe that she needed the money to save abandoned puppies from being euthanized throughout the north country. I’d be tearing up with her had she held up a photo of an 8-week-old labradoodle retriever and wailed in front of the judge, “I just couldn’t let this little cutie patootie die!”

Turns out Whalen had no such story to tell. She spent the money on things like hotel rooms, eating in restaurants, clothing, and equipment for horses. Stuff someone making $56,000 a year – a nice salary by north country standards – coulda, woulda and shoulda been able to buy without “borrowing” money from her employer.

CAVA was set up to help people. Whalen used her post at CAVA to help herself. Then she got caught. Then she got teary-eyed. Then she found it’s not always true that if you do the crime, you do the time. That is a crying shame.