MASON CITY – A Mason City woman who stole a shirt from Walmart is now serving her 200 day jail sentence.
Tabatha Marie Jones stole a shirt from Walmart on March 19, 2015. She pled guilty to third-degree theft and was sentenced to 200 days in jail. The court also imposed and suspended a $625 fine and thirty-five percent surcharge, ordered the payment of a $125 law enforcement initiative surcharge, required Jones to pay the store $44 in restitution, and ordered the payment of $60 in attorney fees.
Jones appealed her sentence and contended the district court abused its discretion in sentencing her to a jail term and in ordering her to pay attorney fees.
In sentencing Jones to jail, the district court cited her criminal history, which included multiple prior theft theft convictions. The court stated:
“You do not respect the property ownership of others and you don’t seem to be getting the message because we continue to have you back over and over again. We’ve tried probation, it didn’t work. I’m not granting you probation.
. . . [I]f you continue to take stuff that is not yours whether that’s from a store, whether that’s from another individual, . . . you’re going to sit in jail for a long period of time.”
The Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed Jones’ sentence for the theft from Walmart and said the district court’s reasoning was “entirely appropriate”. She is now in the Cerro Gordo county jail, serving 200 days.
SUBJECT IS INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY
Cheese hands at it again. This chick is nasty.