Jail time for Windsor woman who ripped off Healdsburg lawyer
February 28, 2011,
The Windsor woman who embezzled $179,000 from Healdsburg attorney Michael Villa is going to jail for a year, The Press Democrat reports. It turns out April Hale is a serial embezzler who stole from previous employers, as well.
Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Dana Simonds aptly said in sentencing Hale:
"Something is terribly wrong in your thinking process for you to think this is OK."
Hale kept two sets of books, siphoning off $6,000 a month to her personal accounts.
Ms. Hale buried me alive for 42 months while systematically looting my business," an emotional Villa said in open court. "This was a tragedy. It was a life-altering experience."
It came out that Hale also stole from Sonoma Image in 1999-2000 and from another employer subsequent to that. That sealed her fate for jail time. The judge denied her request for house arrest, noting that her husband could care for her nine-year-old son.
When Hale is free, she will not be permitted to take any job involving the handling of cash or finances, the judge said. "The behavior you have demonstrated is something you need to get some help with," Simonds said.
