LEWISTON – A former clerk for the state Department of Probation and Parole reported to the Androscoggin County Jail on Monday afternoon to begin a 60-day sentence.
Luann Bachelder, 39, pleaded guilty last Thursday to one count of theft for stealing more than $6,500 from the juvenile probation division in Lewiston.
Bachelder worked for the division for more than 10 years. One of her responsibilities was to manage the restitution payments that juvenile defendants were ordered to pay to their victims.
The department conducted an audit in the summer of 2003 after noticing that one of the deposits for the fund was smaller than it should have been.
The results of that audit – a shortage of about $6,500 – led the department to contact police, said Assistant District Attorney Kevin Regan.
According to Regan, Bachelder admitted during her first interview with police that she was responsible for the missing money.
She was indicted last April on a charge of theft and allowed to remain free without bail until her appearance in court Thursday.
Regan and Bachelder’s lawyer, Justin Leary, reached a deal that included a sentencing cap of no more than 60 days behind bars.
“Even though she had no criminal record, it was quite a violation of trust,” said Regan, explaining why he felt it was important for Bachelder to serve some time in jail.
Two juvenile probation officers who testified at the hearing Thursday told the court that the department has been forced to tighten all of its accounting practices as a result of the ordeal.
Describing Bachelder as a “good person who did a bad thing,” Leary attempted to argue for less time behind bars. He told the judge that Bachelder was dealing with personal problems at home when she started taking the money, and the situation simply spiraled downward.
Linda Maher, another juvenile probation officer who had befriended Bachelder, wrote in a letter to the court that Bachelder used the money to support her family, not to buy lavish gifts for herself.
In the end, however, Justice Thomas Warren took the state’s recommendation. He sentenced Bachelder to two years with all but 60 days suspended, followed by two years of probation.
At Bachelder’s request, the judge allowed her to remain free through the weekend. He gave her until 4 p.m. Monday to turn herself in.
During her probation, Bachelder will have to pay $6,555 in restitution to the Department of Probation and Parole.
A resident of Leeds, Bachelder was fired from the Department of Probation and Parole following the investigation into the missing money. She has spent the past several months working as an after-school teacher at Kid’s Camp Learning Center.
The director of the learning center wrote a letter to the court describing her as a model employee and a great team player.
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