Woman sentenced for stealing from daughter’s troop

WAILUKU - A former treasurer of a Kula Girl Scout troop was ordered to perform 300 hours of community service for stealing more than $3,000 from the organization.

Anne Marie Cordoba, 41, of Kula, also was placed on five years' probation as part of her sentence imposed Wednesday. She was required to pay $1,476 - the amount she hadn't repaid of the $3,276 she stole by forging troop checks from September 2007 to July 2008.

"I'm very sorry," Cordoba said in court. "I was just really in a difficult position, and I feel really bad about it. I love those girls.

"I was paying the money back, and then they changed their minds. Unfortunately, they chose to turn me in. It was always my intention to repay it."

Originally charged with second-degree theft and six counts of second-degree forgery, Cordoba pleaded no contest to the theft charge and two of the forgery charges.

In sentencing Cordoba, 2nd Circuit Judge Richard Bissen followed a plea agreement recommending no jail.

Deputy Prosecutor Mark Simonds said the Girl Scout leaders and organization didn't want to see Cordoba jailed. "But they did want Ms. Cordoba to be held accountable," he said.

After forging Troop 792 leader Sue Haylor's signature on six checks in amounts ranging from $300 to $1,000, Cordoba deposited the money into her account, according to court records.

Simonds said the stolen money was supposed to be used for a troop trip to Oahu.

After the thefts were discovered, American Savings Bank fronted the money so the troop could go on the trip, Simonds said.

While Cordoba was asked to step down as treasurer, her daughter continued to participate in troop activities, Simonds said.

"It really stands as a testament to the Girl Scouts of America and all the good they stand for," he said. "They handled this situation in a very dignified and proper way."

When confronted by Haylor, Cordoba admitted what she had done and agreed to pay back the money, Simonds said.

"When the payments stopped, the Girl Scouts of America was left with no choice but to contact the Maui Police Department," he said.

But Cordoba's attorney Ben Herren said she had been continuing to make payments. "There was a dispute between the person who reached the agreement and other members of Girl Scouts as to whether that should be reported," he said.

Herren said Cordoba was "motivated by a desire to buy necessities for her family."

The family was in financial stress after Cordoba did a favor for a friend who didn't have proper credit to buy a house, Herren said. He said she became a joint homeowner with the friend and was "the only person on the debt that went terribly awry."

He said Cordoba "feels she is totally innocent" in an unrelated pending criminal case related to mortgage payments for the house.

Court records show Cordoba is charged with second-degree theft in that case, based on allegations that she was receiving money from the friend to make mortgage payments but not making the payments.

Questioned by Judge Bissen about how she had planned to repay the Girl Scout troop, Cordoba said she had started substitute teaching.

"Whatever you did to pay it back is what you should have done before you decided to take it," Bissen told Cordoba.

He denied her request for a chance to keep the convictions off her record. Bissen said she wasn't eligible because she was granted a similar request to keep a misdemeanor theft conviction off her record in 2002.

In that case, Cordoba said she had lost her receipt for a purchase at Wal-Mart while searching the store for her daughter's lost blanket.

In another sentencing Wednesday, a 19-year-old Keanae man was taken into custody to serve a three-month jail term for driving a stolen car that was set on fire last year.

Val "Mana" Redo was placed on five years' probation as part of the sentence imposed by 2nd Circuit Judge Joel August.

Redo had pleaded no contest to unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle after he was seen driving the silver 2000 Volkswagen Jetta that had been stolen Sept. 10 from Baldwin Beach Park in Paia.

The prosecution dismissed a second-degree arson charge in exchange for the plea.

Defense attorney William Sloper said Redo wasn't taking responsibility for burning the car, which was found destroyed near Honomanu Bay in Keanae 10 days after it was stolen.

Sloper said Redo works on a family watercress farm.

Although Redo told a probation officer that he "likes to smoke a couple of joints every day," Sloper said "I think the community's attitude has changed over the past couple of years."

"From what's happened in our community, it seems to be accepted behavior," Sloper said.

While attorneys asked the judge to follow a plea agreement recommending no additional jail, August said he was concerned about Redo's criminal history, including adjudications as a juvenile for first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer and other crimes. Since age 18, Redo has been convicted of four misdemeanors and one petty misdemeanor crime, August said.

"The fact that he's using marijuana combined with the other problems he's exhibited does not bode well either for him or people in the community," August said.

He ordered Redo not to consume alcohol and illegal drugs, and to obtain the equivalent of a high school diploma within two years of his release from jail. Redo also was ordered to obtain a drug and alcohol assessment within two months of being released from jail.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.