PORT ANGELES — A judge will decide next month whether Staci Allison, a former Clallam County Sheriff’s Office employee who was convicted of stealing $8,644 from the office’s evidence room, should have a retrial.
An eight-woman, four-man jury found Allison, 41, guilty of first-degree theft and money laundering last month in Clallam County Superior Court.
Her attorney, Ralph Anderson, is seeking a retrial for the money-laundering conviction, claiming the charge was not justified.
He also plans to appeal the theft conviction, saying the evidence didn’t support the conviction.
A hearing will be held Dec. 15 in Superior Court.
Allison, who faces up to 10 years in prison, would be sentenced that day if the retrial motion is denied.
A sentencing hearing, set for last Thursday was delayed so that Anderson’s motions could be heard.
Money laundering
Anderson said he doesn’t believe putting money into a bank account should qualify as money laundering.
“In a legal sense, I think that’s overly broad and vague,” he said.
Anderson also said he doesn’t believe there was enough evidence to support a theft conviction.
“You don’t expect to win these motions, but you never know,” he said.
If the case is not granted a retrial, Anderson said he would appeal both convictions.
Allison was convicted of stealing the funds by emptying evidence bags containing the money and altering some computer records.
The Sheriff’s Office discovered money was missing in November 2006 when 129 empty evidence bags once containing $51,251 were found stuffed in a plastic tube.
Allison was charged with taking a fraction of that amount because that’s how much prosecutors felt they could prove she stole.
That was based on computer records she had altered, according to testimony.
Out on bond
Allison was placed into custody immediately after her conviction but has been out on a $10,000 bond since Oct. 24.
She was the second former county employee convicted of stealing funds while on the job this year.
The other, Catherine Betts, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in August for stealing between $617,467 and $793,595 in real estate excise tax proceeds between June 2003 and May 2009 while she worked as a cashier in the Treasurer’s Office.
She is also required to pay $607,516 in restitution to the county.
Authorities have said the thefts are not connected.
None of the money from the cases was recovered.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
