Court upholds sentences in $80K theft

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — A three-judge panel of the 7th District Court of Appeals has unanimously upheld maximum consecutive prison sentences totaling eight years for a woman who stole at least $80,000 from a small family real-estate agency that employed her.

The panel upheld the conviction and sentence for Jennifer Ann Gilliam, 43, of Oak Knoll Drive, Boardman, who drew the prison term and an $80,000 restitution order from Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

The thefts were discovered at the D’Amico Agency Inc. in October 2007, and Gilliam was sentenced May 1, 2008, after she pleaded guilty to three counts each of theft and forgery.

Gilliam, who had a prior conviction for a similar theft, forged checks, changed bank statements and modified company records to cover her crimes, according to the court decision. The thief fled to Florida after withdrawing the stolen funds from various local banks.

Gilliam’s drug addiction may have contributed to her crimes, but it was not an excuse for them, Judge Durkin said before exceeding by five years the three-year prison term recommended by Jennifer L. McLaughlin, an assistant county prosecutor.

Gilliam, a prisoner at the Trumbull Correctional Institution, contended that Judge Durkin abused his discretion by imposing maximum terms.

However, the appeals court said: “A trial court may deviate from the prosecutor’s recommended sentence. ... There was no abuse of discretion in imposing the maximum consecutive sentence.”

The appeals court decision, released last week, was written by Judge Cheryl L. Waite, with Judges Gene Donofrio and Joseph J. Vukovich concurring.

Gilliam is to be released Dec. 29, 2015.