A La Center woman who stole tens of thousands of dollars from her 87-year-old grandmother was sentenced Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court to five months in jail.
Alina M. Ferguson, 37, pleaded guilty in October to theft of a motor vehicle, first-degree theft and third-degree theft — all domestic violence-related cases.
According to the prosecution, Ferguson stole about $50,000 between January 2014 and December 2015. A probable cause affidavit states the amount was more than $30,000.
The money was used to pay for her personal trips, college, bills, store purchases and a chiropractor, the affidavit said.
Ferguson told police she cared for her grandmother and managed her finances. She used her grandmother’s money to pay for the woman’s bills, she said, and, in return, her grandmother paid her bills, according to court documents.
The victim reportedly told police she didn’t give money to Ferguson and that Ferguson didn’t have permission to use her money, court records said.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Abbie Bartlett said Tuesday that Ferguson wasn’t working at the time and decided that her grandmother would be her income. In addition to the money, Ferguson also stole three vehicles from her grandmother, Bartlett said.
She asked Judge Robert Lewis to sentence Ferguson to six months on the jail’s work-release program, which allows inmates to work outside in the community and be confined when they’re not working.
Ferguson’s defense attorney, Therese Lavallee, asked that her client receive the first-time offender sentencing option, in addition to the work-release program.
Lewis denied the work-release request because Ferguson only works part-time and instead sentenced her to five months of jail time. Her sentence of 364 days on the third-degree theft, a gross misdemeanor, was suspended for two years. She was given credit for 14 days in custody.
Ferguson also will have to pay $15,000 in restitution. A separate restitution hearing will be held at a later date to address the issue of the stolen cars. Ferguson still has two of them in her possession, Bartlett said.
