La Plata, MD – For Crystal Denise Fountain, 32 of District Heights, it was a long and bumpy path to Charles County Circuit Court Judge Amy J. Bragunier’s courtroom Wednesday, March 11 for sentencing of theft charges.
The original charges came from a three-month period in 2005 in which Fountain stole money, what Charles County Assistant State’s Attorney Jared I. Arnold called a case “with a bit of a tortuous past.”
He said restitution the defendant was instructed to pay had been “extremely inconsistent,” stated she paid $100 Oct. 31, 2014 and told the court she would pay $500 by Jan. 7.
“She comes in Jan. 7 and she hasn’t paid anything,” Arnold said, adding the defendant still owes $2,197 in restitution. “She is not showing the court a good faith effort.”
“I lost my job,” Fountain told Bragunier. “That’s why I couldn’t pay.”
“Your honor, my client is working at Dunkin’ Donuts,” Charles County Public Defender Allison Heldreth told the court. “She is a wage employee. She is paying what she can.”
Grabbing Fountain’s case folder, Bragunier jokingly told Heldreth and Fountain, “I’m reviewing the ‘tortuous history’ of this case.
“It seems like where we are differing is the amount you are able to pay at once,” the judge noted. “In my experience, when the payments go down, that seems to have helped.”
She asked Fountain if she thought she could pay $50 a week “to get this paid off this year.”
Fountain agreed.
Bragunier then sentenced the defendant to 18 months with work release authorized, to commence April 27.
“If you pay $50 a week between now and then, I will defer that sentence further,” she said.
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com
