A Brooklyn Park woman accused of swindling more than $300,000 from her employer over the course of 14 months was sentenced Friday to a year in the workhouse and 20 years of probation.
Ramsey County District Judge Robert A. Awsumb stayed imposition of a prison sentence, but ordered Sarah Ann Hanson, 23, to pay restitution, get psychiatric counseling and provide a DNA sample. She pleaded guilty to felony theft by swindle in November and admitted taking customer payment checks to Luminaire Recyclers and depositing them into her personal bank account. She and her fiancé used some of the money to buy two high-end sport-utility vehicles and a $94,000 boat.
In a separate case, Mariesa E. Carey, 22, was sentenced to 30 days in the workhouse and five years' probation after she pleaded guilty to fifth-degree drug possession. She was ordered to abstain from drugs, take parenting classes and work toward her GED.
The crime came to light after her husband's 6-year-old son came to St. Paul to spend the summer with the couple and returned home with bruises, lacerations and scars from head to toe. When police searched their home, they found "a large quantity" of marijuana along with packaging materials and a scale.
The boy's father, Jonathan Lee Carey, pleaded guilty to malicious punishment of a child and was sentenced earlier this month to five years' probation.
PAT PHEIFER
