In a nut shell. Maid working for a company steals jewelry worth $5,000. Jury finds her guilty and sentences her to $60 fine. They feel so bad for this lady who is now unemployed, pregnant and already has a child so they all chip in and pay the $60 fine for her. They feel she is also a victim.

Jury is not told this maid is in the country illegally.

You just cant make this stuff up anymore.

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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017...g-worth-jewelry.html

Virginia woman was outraged after the maid she hired stole $5,000 worth of jewelry from her home and then the jury chipped in to pay for the woman’s fine after convicting her of theft.

Sandra Mendez Ortega, 19, who is in the country illegally, was convicted of felony grand larceny for stealing three rings on Dec. 8 by a jury at Fairfax County court. Instead of jail time, the jury sentenced her to a $60 fine.

A sympathetic jury for the teenager, who is pregnant with her second child, and pulled together $80 to pay for the fine after they convicted her/

Jury foreman Jeffrey Memmott told The Washington Post the jurors felt sympathy for the woman who testified she dropped out of school after sixth grade, had one child and was pregnant with another but was not employed.

“The general sentiment was she was a victim, too,” Memmott said. “Two of the women (jurors) were crying because of how bad they felt. One lady pulled out a $20 bill, and just about everybody chipped in.”

Memmott said he contacted the case’s public defender and went to the former maid’s home to give her $80, more than enough to pay her $60 fine.

“Justice had to be done,” Janice Woolridge, a juror, told The Washington Post. “But there’s also got to be some compassion somewhere. Young people make bad decisions. We just couldn’t pile on any more.”

However, Lisa Copeland, Mendez Ortega’s employer, was not happy with the sentencing – or their actions. She told the post that a $60 fine was insufficient for the crime committed and claimed Ortega told lie after lie.

“I was outraged,” Copeland said. “I was just flabbergasted. I didn’t think $60 equated to the crime at all.”

Copeland said she discovered the rings missing in Sept. 2016 and actually did not realize a third ring had disappeared until they were turned in. The rings were worth at least $5,000, she aid.

Copeland called Fairfax City police who questioned the three housekeepers – including Mendez Ortega – who cleaned Copeland’s home and they all denied wrongdoing.

However, following the questioning the 19-year-old reportedly felt guilty about the stealing and told Copeland’s husband, Jeff, she had the rings and gave them back, The Washington Post reported. Police also had the young woman write the Copeland’s a letter of apology. Copeland said she has never seen the apology and the former maid never said sorry to her in person.

“Never saw it,” Copeland said. “Never heard about it until the trial, during sentencing.”

Mendez Ortega was arrested and spent eight days in jail but posted the $1,000 bond and was released. The jury was not told of the woman’s stint in jail and that she was in the country illegally because “it was not relevant to whether she stole the rings.”

Copeland said she felt the jury should have been told these facts.

“I think it’s relevant to the case,” Copeland said.

“It really irritates me that she came here and committed a felony,” Jeff Copeland told The Washington Post. “People are coming here because there is opportunity here. But when they come here and commit crimes, that’s where you’ve got to draw the line.”

Lisa Copeland said she was “amazed” the jury did not want to convict Mendez Ortega although she confessed.

“The fact that she confessed,” she said, “and they didn’t want to convict her? I don’t get this. That’s basically saying it’s okay to steal.”

Mendez Ortega faced up to 20 years in prison and a $2,500 fine but the jury only made her pay a fine that would be equivalent to a day’s pay.

Speaking through an interpreter, she said she was “happy” following her sentencing.

“I became happy when I heard they wanted to give me that (money.) Thank you very much to all of them, God bless them,” she said.

So we are now paying illegal alien criminals to steal? God, we're fucked.

quote:

...Fairfax County court.

Say no more.

One day I want to sit on a jury in a criminal case.

And she will stay here....Have MORE kids....probably steal as well....or just go on Welfare forever.

quote:

Speaking through an interpreter, she said she was “happy” following her sentencing.

She didn't speak English and that clueless jury didn't suspect she was an illegal?

This woman makes bad decisions. People learn by experiencing consequences. The relief of consequence, how ever compassionate, removes the lesson and encourages more poor behavior. Eventually this trend will destroy the individual or at least set her up for greater consequence later.

^^^

Yep. Reward behavior, expect behavior expecting reward.

Idiots. She wasn't going to pay that $60 fine anyways. Those fines get paid about 5% of the time.

Hey, it's not like she shot some innocent woman in the back,right?

I'd have chipped in... on the bus ticket back to Juarez.

She gave the rings back, chance of that happening is about 1/1000. I say cut the woman some slack. Now if she had kept the rings, I would deport the bitch.

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
She gave the rings back, chance of that happening is about 1/1000. I say cut the woman some slack. Now if she had kept the rings, I would deport the bitch.

In this cold, sterile, digital medium, I can't tell if you're serious.

quote:

Originally posted by DennisM:

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
She gave the rings back, chance of that happening is about 1/1000. I say cut the woman some slack. Now if she had kept the rings, I would deport the bitch.

In this cold, sterile, digital medium, I can't tell if you're serious.

Im not sure we have the same definition of gave back.

She only gave them back because the police were involved. The fact she still had them says she didnt need to sell them for the money to buy diapers or baby formula.

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
She gave the rings back, chance of that happening is about 1/1000. I say cut the woman some slack. Now if she had kept the rings, I would deport the bitch.

By definition she is a criminal! She broke US law when she illegally crossed our border.

She stole, regardless of how she came to appear in court that makes her additionally a law breaker.

It is way past the time we started protecting our sovereignty.

I'd be more impressed if the jurors committed to paying her welfare and child support, and her offspring's welfare, fines and child support for their illegitimate offspring for the next 36 years.

Why don't they all hire her as their maid and let her come into their homes. That is 12 additional paychecks for her, and they all trust her now that her mistake is resolved.

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
She gave the rings back, chance of that happening is about 1/1000. I say cut the woman some slack. Now if she had kept the rings, I would deport the bitch.

I should assume this is a joke, but there is a 100% chance the thieving illegal alien will steal something again. She was a criminal from day one she set foot in this country, and I am willing to bet a sizable amount of cash this was not her first theft since coming here. Consider this, since she is here illegally and her employment options are limited by her illegal status and lack of a middle school diploma let alone a high school or college degree, along with the need to feed two children. It's a certainty that she needs to steal to feed herself/children.

Hopefully there are plans to get her into ICEs hands soon.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

Hopefully there are plans to get her into ICEs hands soon.

Send her to Iowa!

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...0601935/m/1810056434

I'm sure she learned her lesson with a punishment like that.

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:
It is way past the time we started protecting our sovereignty.

+1. A nation without defined and actually meaningful borders and national territory pretty quickly ceases to be a "real" nation.

Glad I can find the time to clean my house. My ex used to have maids come in once a week. House was clean, but I still hated it. That'll never happen again.