Two Bellevue women received suspended prison sentences earlier this month and were placed on probation in connection with a case of forgery and thefts of checks and credit cards from one of the defendants’ grandmother.
Lisa Renee Damiano, 33, was sentenced on March 14 on a felony charge of forgery. Kayla Joe Dugger, 25, was sentenced on March 18 on a felony charge of grand theft. Both sentences were handed down by Judge Robert Elgee in Blaine County 5th District Court.
Cases against the two women arose last summer. According to Hailey police reports, the women forged numerous checks on Dugger’s grandmother’s bank account from April through July 2012. Dugger was also accused of grand theft for stealing the checks and stealing and using two of her grandmother’s credit cards.
Both Damiano and Dugger were originally charged with three felonies apiece.
Damiano was charged with three counts of forgery. In exchange for her guilty plea in December to a single count of forgery, the other two counts were dismissed.
Dugger was charged with one count of forgery and two counts of grand theft. In exchange for pleading guilty to a single count of grand theft in January, the other two charges were dismissed.
At sentencing, Damiano was given a suspended five-year prison sentence, placed on probation for three years, ordered to pay fines and court costs of $1,240.50 and ordered to pay restitution to the victim of $234.98. In the event that the prison sentence was to be reinstated, Damiano was given credit for 18 days already spent in jail.
Dugger was given a suspended seven-year prison sentence, placed on probation for four years, ordered to pay court costs of $240.50 and ordered to pay restitution to the victim of $91.45. In the event that the prison sentence was to be reinstated, Dugger was given credit for 231 days already spent in jail.
Whether the prison sentences remain suspended depends on how well the defendants do while on probation.
Both Damiano and Dugger were ordered to attend and complete Blaine County Drug Court, in which convicted people are given the opportunity to rid themselves of dependence on drugs or alcohol.
As a condition of probation, both women were ordered to abstain from alcohol or illegal drugs, possess no firearms, be subject to searches at any time, undergo periodic alcohol or drug testing and submit to polygraph examinations when requested to do so by probation officers.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
Lisa Renee Damiano,
Kayla Joe Dugger
