Racked up $8,000 on government credit card
Jun 24, 2009 - 04:06 PM
By Jeff Mitchell
OSHAWA -- A court worker who racked up thousands of dollars in personal purchases on a government-owned credit card was "doomed" to be discovered, a judge said in sentencing her to a term of house arrest Wednesday.
Corrina Thompson has lost her job and is starting over in life, Ontario Court Justice Steven Clark said in imposing the conditional sentence.
"Quite frankly, Ms. Thompson is probably more to be pitied than scorned," Justice Clark said.
"She has fallen from grace."
Court heard Ms. Thompson, a court clerk who attained the title of assistant manager of court services in Durham Region, made more than $8,000 in personal purchases on a court-owned credit card between September 2006 and January 2007.
The purchases included groceries, liquor, golf equipment and a stay at a Niagara-area hotel, prosecutor Felicity Hawthorn said.
Transactions on the government-issued credit card typically occurred "when Ms. Thompson's bank account was at a very low ebb," Ms. Hawthorn said.
"She used public money to fund her life," Ms. Hawthorn told the judge. "That's inexcusable."
Defence lawyer Kevin Mitchell-Gill said his client feels profound remorse for the offences, which cost her "the best job she ever had.
"She lost everything," Mr. Mitchell-Gill said. "Her life fell apart."
He noted Ms. Thompson has already made full restitution for the fraudulent purchases.
A tearful Ms. Thompson apologized to the court. Justice Clark sentenced her to a six-month conditional sentence, ordering that the first three months be served under strict house arrest and the remaining three months under a night-time curfew. Throughout the sentence, she'll be able to leave her home to attend work and school.
In passing sentence Justice Clark said it was inevitable Ms. Thompson's frauds would be discovered.
"It started out slowly, but from an acorn grew an oak tree," he said. "... Ms. Thompson was doomed to detection."
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