Church thief gets 4 days
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The defendant, Donna R. Griffith, entered a guilty plea to the charge of theft and was sentenced to serve four days of a four-year sentence, with the balance to be served on probation.
?They asked that we be lenient since the crime just wasn?t in her nature,? said District Attorney General Dale Potter of the small amount of jail time which came at the request of the victims, one of which was Cornerstone Baptist Church.
Griffith stole from the church where she attended by using a stolen debit/credit card. She also victimized a fellow church member in her theft spree.
The criminal activity began last year when Griffith broke into the home of a fellow church member and stole the church debit card and several cards belonging to the victim. Griffith then went on a theft spree, passing the cards like they belonged to her and purchasing numerous goods on numerous occasions. Most of her fraudulent purchases using the church card came at Wal-Mart while she used her friend?s stolen JCPenny and Cato cards at those respective businesses.
Griffith was caught after bills began to come in over the summer of 2005, reflecting purchases those entrusted with the finances of the church knew they had not made.
Potter said his office would generally push for more jail. However, given the pleas for mercy by the victims, Potter said the four-day jail term was agreed upon.