Thieves deserve real punishment

I guess the best way to describe it is a robbery that turned sour. Steve Tryon, 18, was arrested in Terre Haute, Ind., on Tuesday after reportedly robbing a neighborhood lemonade stand of $17.50.
According to police, Tyron approached the 12-year-old lemonade stand operator and demanded her money. After handing over the cash, the girl was able to follow Tyron to his nearby home and she pointed out his location to police.
He was arrested on a preliminary charge of felony robbery and will be formally charged today. He was ordered held in jail on $50,000 bond.
So why in the world am I talking about a supposed lemonade stand robbery that took place in Indiana? Because someone ought to tell Steve Tryon he’s stealing money the wrong way.
If his current charges stick, he’s most likely looking at serious jail time for his little prank turned felony. But if Tryon would instead embezzle money here in Warren County ‘ even large, large sums of money ‘ it’s unlikely he’d ever serve a day in jail.
For whatever reason, Warren County has a rich history of letting people who steal money from their employers simply pay back that stolen money and avoid a jail sentence. That holds true even if the stealing took place over and extended period of time.
Angela Beaty is by far the most high-profile example. She pleaded guilty last month to stealing $224,000 from Hale & Hines Nursery. That’s nearly a quarter of a million dollars. She was graciously sentenced to 10 years probation with the stipulation that she works to pay back the money she stole. That will sure teach her a lesson.
While Beaty’s case was still fresh on my mind, Dogma Walker was sentenced last week for stealing $3,204 over a period of time from Gant Oil while she was cleaning the office after hours. If you’re wondering what kind of sentence a person gets for stealing $3,204, the answer is one year probation. And she must repay the money she stole.
Boy, she won’t do that again.
But that’s the way we punish people who steal money in Warren County. They aren’t made to spend a day in jail and in some cases they are even granted a judicial diversion to have the charges erased from their record.
If you look back over the past four years, people like Melissa Woodlee, Angela Bost and Rebecca Collins all stole at least $15,000 from their place of employment and all three avoided jail and were granted judicial diversions.
The only exception over the past four years ‘ and this will bring cries of gender discrimination ‘ is the case of John A. Davis, who was ordered to serve a year in jail for embezzling over $60,000 from Cumberland Caverns.
This is apparently a new concept, but our legal system needs to start sentencing the women who steal money the same way it sentences men. And I say that with no intention of turning this column into a battle of the sexes. My point is if you’re going to steal $15,000, you deserve jail time.
I don’t think Davis deserves leniency. It’s everyone else who needs tougher treatment. I’m tired of reading comments from the judge saying ‘this is a sweetheart plea agreement,’ or ‘this is the deal of the lifetime.’
I say let’s start giving some people the shaft. Let’s start throwing some of these thieves in jail. If you’re going to steal thousands of dollars, you should learn there are consequences. Our criminals are learning they can steal money and get away with it.
James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191.