Hi everyone. Over the last year, you have been so kind with your comments, ideas and sympathy after the travel agent stole the money we paid for Trail of Lippizaners Tour. As you know, it was not just us she stole from, but at least nine people on multiple tours.
My friend Su and I presented our Victims' Comments in Denver Court last Friday, talking about not only the money impact, but also the emotional impact of Therese's theft. The ordeal is over. Therese is sentenced to 90 days in jail and four years probation. As we already knew, she has no money so restitution will be non-existent. Jail time is to start this week.
We met with the DA in the morning to find out what to expect in court. He listened sympathetically while we talked. Because of Therese's age and no prior record, he was concerned that she would not get jail time, so essentially get off the hook for her crime. In court, the DA presented a very good case why she should get jail time because there had to be punishment for her crime.
Her public defender lawyer was two hours late for the hearing, knowing that we had flights to catch. The judge allowed us to testify as soon as he arrived because we had 20 minutes at most before we had to leave for the airport. Her lawyer then tried to say Therese made an uninformed mistake by co-mingling personal and business money and that she was terrified of going to jail and worried about her cat. He also drug out the testimony past the time we had to leave for the airport. I understand from the DA that the judge was not pleased with lawyer's behavior and said that Therese had been in business 20 years and knew what she was doing.
A DA investigator drove us to the airport. The DA called us enroute with the verdict report; he was amazed at the sentence. With 18 years experience in the department, he expected Therese to be sentenced to 10 days. Both the DA and the investigator said it was helpful that Su and I were in court so the trip to Denver was worth it.
So it's over. We won't get any money. But there is satisfaction that she's going to jail and will never be able to cheat people again. Now it's time to move on to planning May's RS South of Italy tour with my sister-in-law.
Thanks again everyone for your support.
Kathy
Read my update down-thread. You won’t believe it.