SMETHPORT — “Get cameras.”
That was President Judge John Pavlock’s advice to business owners on Thursday, when a former Worth W. Smith Co. cashier was sentenced in McKean County Court for stealing.
That cashier — Laurie A. Recny, 38, of Bradford — was ordered to pay $123,568.40 in restitution for allegations she took money from the business over several years.
“It’s sad that we’re to the point that we can’t trust anyone. You can’t,” said Pavlock.
Recny pleaded guilty March 21 to one charge of theft by deception, a third-degree felony.
In addition to the substantial restitution, she will serve five to 23 ½ months in McKean County Jail with credit for one day of time served.
As a condition of her sentence, Pavlock ordered that she make a minimum restitution payment of at least $100 per month.
Additionally, Recny was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, write a letter of apology to the victim and have a mental health evaluation. She is not to be on the property of Worth Smith, and she was ordered not to have contact with Nate Smith or Dale Smith.
Recny is now employed full-time at Dollar General, said Dennis Luttenauer, her attorney. He asked if she could be made work-release eligible — which was granted.
At Dollar General, “She’s a valued employee,” said Luttenauer. “She’s obviously turned herself around.”
Luttenauer added, “I truly believe she’s tremendously remorseful about this.”
For her part, Recny said, “I’d just like to say I’m sorry.”
She then told Pavlock she’d like him to sentence her to the low end of the sentencing range because her job is important to her.
Commenting on the look on her face, Pavlock said, “There are tears here today” — but where were the tears when she was on surveillance video taking money?
He described what she looked like on the video, which he watched during a previous hearing.
“What was really telling was there was always that glance toward the office,” Pavlock said, comparing her to a child looking to see if an adult was watching. “There weren’t tears then. The defendant was in a position of trust.”
District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer explained that the thefts spanned several years, but the span was narrowed down due to the statute of limitations.
When Recny was first charged, it was asserted that she took $273,118.09 — the amount of voids made on her register over the 10-year period she worked as a full-time cashier for the business. She was accused of setting aside cash from purchases by customers, making a void for the purchase, then keeping the cash.
However, as Luttenauer stated at multiple court hearings, some of them would be legitimate voids.
On Thursday, Shaffer explained that Recny pleaded guilty to theft between Dec. 10. 2007, and Sept. 2, 2015, that were between $2,000 and $100,000. The monetary amount was the range of a third-degree felony at the time she entered the plea.
A separate hearing was held in July to determine what she should actually pay as restitution.
