Theft from dentist. Case dismissed and sealed.
(JAN 8 2025, DILLON, MO) A Dillon woman who pleaded guilty to theft from an area dentist and received a deferred sentence got the plea and the case cleared Dec. 23 in Fifth Judicial District Court.
Kristy Brown Staley, 63, petitioned district court to reverse her guilty plea and dismiss her six-year deferred sentence in August. Staley pleaded guilty to felony theft by embezzlement in 2022 for stealing from her former employer, retired dentist John McCollum, by charging personal expenses on the business credit card for office purchases between 2015 and 2021. She was required to pay $30,000 in restitution as part of her deferred sentence.
Montana law allows defendants who comply with conditions of a deferred sentence to seek dismissal after a portion of the deferred sentence time. For Staley, that time period was two years.
Deferred sentence dismissal requests are often non-controversial and are granted without opposition. In this case, the Beaverhead County Attorney’s Office filed an objection to Staley’s request, citing victim pushback.
“This case has been very polarizing both ways. There’s some people that think Ms. Staley is the scourge of civilization and should be locked away in a tower for 100 years, and there’s some people that think I’m a rat bastard for giving her a deferred.” – Judge Luke Berger, Fifth Judicial District Court
Dismissals in such cases are allowed if the judge determines it would be in the best interests of the defendant and society at large. Attorneys on both sides took testimony from Staley and from members of McCollum’s family during the Dec. 17 hearing.
Testimony cites impacts of dismissal
Staley said she would like to be free to travel, seek job opportunities and retire if possible at age 65. She also confirmed she had no intention of working in any position where financial management is a responsibility.
“I would possibly be able to get a better job,” she said. “I would like to not have to pay a supervisor a fee every month. I would like to be able to leave the state when I want to without having to get permission. I would like to be able to retire at 65.”
Staley testified she missed two family reunions and two funerals that were out of state because she felt asking for permission was “humiliating.”
Melissa Kay Grathwohl, one of McCollum’s daughters, said she feared Staley’s request indicated she was not taking responsibility for the crime and should not be released early from the deferred sentence.
“This was a crime…that was planned and executed for days, weeks, and years. It was methodical,” she said. “This wasn’t just a one-off. This wasn’t just a thing where ‘oops, I made a mistake.'”
Daughter Melinda “Mindy” McCollum-Slovick said Staley’s actions made her wonder what else Staley could do with a clear criminal record.
“If she can manipulate someone she worked for for 41 years, what is she going to do to the next person,” McCollum-Slovick asked. “What are we showing society, that it is OK to manipulate and steal from an elder and you’ll only get a year, two years?”
Beaverhead Deputy County Attorney Zach Toups reiterated the daughters’ concerns.
“The record speaks for itself – there was a reason a six-year sentence was offered and a reason the six-year sentence was accepted and imposed by the court,” he said. “No one in my office had anything to do with this case at the time it reached sentencing. However, I did want you to know the facts and the reasons behind the sentencing of six years existed then, and still exists now.”
Dismissal allowed by law
Judge Luke Berger did not render his decision at the hearing, but noted the controversial case had inflamed community residents on both sides of the debate.
“This case has been very polarizing both ways. There’s some people that think Ms. Staley is the scourge of civilization and should be locked away in a tower for 100 years, and there’s some people that think I’m a rat bastard for giving her a deferred,” he said.
“The justice system in some people’s minds is an imperfect system. The legislature has set up this system by which people can discharge their sentences….I think in eight years I’ve had maybe a half-dozen of these hearings. I have – without objection or by the natural course of the system – discharged and dismissed hundreds of cases. That’s the way the system is set up.”
SOURCE: https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/apgstate/theft-from-dentist-case-dismissed-sealed/article_fc592b38-0e8a-5590-bca7-1510d8d2149e.html
READ ABOUT WHEN SHE PLEAD GUILTY
