Her eyes never left the floor, not even when the judge levied his decision on her fraud case.
Penney, 56, plead guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000. She was sentenced to 12 months of incarceration along with a two-year probation period. She is also required to pay restitution in full to her former employer for over $250,000 and a 10-year ban on working at a job that would have her handling money.
“I believe this sentence reflects the seriousness of the matter and in my view it sends a message to anyone considering this sort of act,” said Short. “Hopefully, it offers some level of comfort to those who run businesses and have to trust individuals to carry out proper work and not attempt to undermine the business for their own personal gain.”
When she was arrested last spring, there were a trio of other charges but they’ve been withdrawn.
Those charges stem from numerous incidents of forged cheques and misuse of a company credit card amongst other events from 2011 to 2014 when she was an employee of Land & Sea Welding Ltd., in Carbonear.
An uneasy tension fell over the courtroom as family members, some with their heads in their hands, listened to Short speak for over 20 minutes on the case and the reasoning behind his sentence.
Short listed a number of mitigating factors he considered when deciding on his sentence.
“Ms. Penney has no criminal record … she has expressed a desire to pay restitution and she had entered a guilty plea,” he said.
On the other side of that, Short made sure to point out time and effort that went into the crime and the lack of disclosure by Penney to her employer.
“This was planned and deliberate and involved a great deal of underhanded behavior on the part of Ms. Penney,” he told the court. “I’ve already mentioned the impact on the business and the community at large. Carbonear is not a big place and the risk to this company was tremendous.”
Crown prosecutor Jude Hall sought a 16-month jail sentence, along with a 10-year order prohibiting her from working at a job that would require her to handle money and restitution to be paid in full.
Meanwhile, defence lawyer Erin Breen angled for a conditional sentence of two years plus a day. She was agreeable to the 10-year probation period and restitution order.