A Virginia woman was outraged after the
maid she hired stole $5,000 worth of jewelry from her home and then the
jury chipped in to pay for the woman’s fine after convicting her of
theft.
Sandra Mendez Ortega, 19, who is in the country illegally, was convicted
of felony grand larceny for stealing three rings on Dec. 8 by a jury at
Fairfax County court. Instead of jail time, the jury sentenced her to a
$60 fine.
A sympathetic jury for the teenager, who is pregnant with her second
child, and pulled together $80 to pay for the fine after they convicted
her/
Jury foreman Jeffrey Memmott told The Washington Post the jurors felt
sympathy for the woman who testified she dropped out of school after
sixth grade, had one child and was pregnant with another but was not
employed.
“The general sentiment was she was a victim, too,” Memmott said. “Two of
the women (jurors) were crying because of how bad they felt. One lady
pulled out a $20 bill, and just about everybody chipped in.”
Memmott said he contacted the case’s public defender and went to the
former maid’s home to give her $80, more than enough to pay her $60
fine.
“Justice had to be done,” Janice Woolridge, a juror, told The Washington
Post. “But there’s also got to be some compassion somewhere. Young
people make bad decisions. We just couldn’t pile on any more.”
However, Lisa Copeland, Mendez Ortega’s employer, was not happy with the
sentencing – or their actions. She told the post that a $60 fine was
insufficient for the crime committed and claimed Ortega told lie after
lie.
“I was outraged,” Copeland said. “I was just flabbergasted. I didn’t
think $60 equated to the crime at all.”
Copeland said she discovered the rings missing in Sept. 2016 and
actually did not realize a third ring had disappeared until they were
turned in. The rings were worth at least $5,000, she aid.
Copeland called Fairfax City police who questioned the three
housekeepers – including Mendez Ortega – who cleaned Copeland’s home and
they all denied wrongdoing.
However, following the questioning the 19-year-old reportedly felt
guilty about the stealing and told Copeland’s husband, Jeff, she had the
rings and gave them back, The Washington Post reported. Police also had
the young woman write the Copeland’s a letter of apology. Copeland said
she has never seen the apology and the former maid never said sorry to
her in person.
“Never saw it,” Copeland said. “Never heard about it until the trial,
during sentencing.”
Mendez Ortega was arrested and spent eight days in jail but posted the
$1,000 bond and was released. The jury was not told of the woman’s stint
in jail and that she was in the country illegally because “it was not
relevant to whether she stole the rings.”
Copeland said she felt the jury should have been told these facts.
“I think it’s relevant to the case,” Copeland said.
“It really irritates me that she came here and committed a felony,” Jeff
Copeland told The Washington Post. “People are coming here because there
is opportunity here. But when they come here and commit crimes, that’s
where you’ve got to draw the line.”
Lisa Copeland said she was “amazed” the jury did not want to convict
Mendez Ortega although she confessed.
“The fact that she confessed,” she said, “and they didn’t want to
convict her? I don’t get this. That’s basically saying it’s okay to
steal.”
Mendez Ortega faced up to 20 years in prison and a $2,500 fine but the
jury only made her pay a fine that would be equivalent to a day’s pay.
Speaking through an interpreter, she said she was “happy” following her
sentencing.
“I became happy when I heard they wanted to give me that (money.) Thank
you very much to all of them, God bless them,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report |
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