A 36-year-old Benton woman who pleaded guilty to charges of theft by deception and misuse of identification Thursday was placed on deferred disposition for a year with conditions that prohibit her from having contact with one of the victims and from working in home health or elder care.

Heather N. Giroux also must pay $8,711 in restitution for charges made on a Sears credit card.

Deputy District Attorney Paul Cavanaugh said Giroux used the card belonging to an elderly Benton couple to purchase a number of items between August and September 2013. At the time Giroux was working as a home health aide for the couple.

Cavanaugh said Giroux told investigators she had been given the card by the couple — both born in 1935 — to buy things for them.

However, the couple said they did not give her permission to use it, and the woman has since died. The widower watched the plea in the courtroom at the Capital Judicial Center, but he did not address the judge.

If Giroux complies with the terms of the deferral — which the judge said requires her to make reasonable efforts to pay the restitution within the year — the felony theft charge is to be reduced to a misdemeanor. If she does not comply, then she can be sentenced on the felony, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Defense attorney Walter McKee told the judge that Giroux was entering a plea under the Alford doctrine, which is not an admission of guilt, but indicates the defendant believes he or she could be found guilty if a jury believed the state’s evidence.

He also said police found some of the items Giroux purchased at the victims’ home.

“The bulk of the items, the best I can tell, were not in the possession of the (victims) when police were there,” McKee said. He said some of the evidence indicated Giroux had authority to use the credit card when she did and that she was surprised to be indicted two years later.

Justice Donald Marden said that cases with elderly victims “present a real quandary. On the one hand, the law wishes protect them; and on the other hand, sometimes they don’t remember.”

On Thursday, Giroux was fined $500 for the misuse of identification.

Also at the Capital Judicial Center on Thursday, a Vassalboro man was sentenced to two years in prison for domestic violence assault and criminal mischief that occurred March 12, 2016, in front of police on Temple Street in Waterville.

Daniel A. Goodrich, 38, pleaded guilty to those two crimes and apologized to the victim, a 34-year-old woman, who also was in the courtroom.

“I’ve put (her) through hell these last four years,” he said. He told the judge he had problems with alcohol. “I’ve been drinking since I was 17 and will try to work on it while I’m in the prison.”

Assistant District Attorney Kristin Murray-James said police were patrolling Temple Street the night of March 12 when they saw Goodrich push a woman into the vehicle. When they investigated, they saw she had bruises on the side of her face. Murray-James said Goodrich and the woman had been arguing at a bar over text messages exchanged with former boyfriends and girlfriends and that the argument continued on the sidewalk.

In exchange for Goodrich’s pleas, the state dismissed a charge of violating conditions of release which alleged he had contact with the victim March 21-26, 2016, from the jail.

Also on Thursday, an Augusta woman pleaded guilty to five counts of theft by unauthorized taking, three counts of criminal trespass and one count each of criminal mischief and false public alarm or report, all of which occurred Dec. 22, 2015 through Feb. 21, 2016, in Augusta and Waterville.

Jamie Lynn (also Jamie-Lyn) Giroux, 36, of Augusta, was sentenced to an initial 90 days in jail, with the remainder of a three-year sentence suspended and two years’ probation. Probation conditions prohibit her from being on any Wal-Mart property or business in Maine.

She was ordered to pay $2,208 in restitution plus $2,910 in fines from old cases.

Giroux told the judge she has changed since she has been in jail. She said she stole a TV from Wal-Mart in Waterville — which the state said was worth $1,090 — to pay off someone else’s debt.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

 

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