Stealing $500K buys a year in jail

A Juneau woman will spend a year in jail after stealing more than half a million dollars from a business, Juneau Superior Court Judge Louis Mendez ruled last week.

For the better portion of a decade, former Juneau Bone and Joint Center office manager Chirstena A. Leamer, 44, used a company credit card for personal expenses, buying items from concert tickets to plane travel. She even used the company card to pay for her cat’s cremation.

On Dec. 14, those charges caught up to her. Mendez sentenced Leamer to a five-year prison term with four years suspended, according to court documents. That means Leamer will likely spend about a year in prison, excluding the 60 days she has already served.

Leamer pleaded guilty to embezzling $514,371 from her former employer in late August. As a portion of her plea deal, Leamer will have to repay Juneau Bone and Joint $343,000.

In addition to the one-year sentence, Mendez imposed upon Leamer several special conditions of probation. She is forbidden from visiting the Juneau Bone and Joint Center. She can’t hold any paid or volunteer position involving “the handling of money, check, credit cards, gift cards or similar items of value” without her probation officer’s approval, her sentencing documents read.

She is also forbidden from applying for, using, or possessing a checking card, credit card or charge account that belongs to anybody else, with the exception of her husband.

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