Woman jailed pending restitution hearing

A Carson City woman who still owes her victims 80 percent of the $100,000 she embezzled a decade ago was ordered Tuesday to stay in Douglas County Jail until a June 28 hearing on probation violations.

Julie Theall, 49, denied she violated probation by being uncooperative and failing to pay restitution.

She pleaded guilty in 1998 to embezzling $103,000 from the Hellwinkel family while she worked for the C.O.D. Garage and Motor Co. as bookkeeper and ordered to pay restitution.

So far, she's paid back about $20,000 and is under court order to sell her mobile home at 2900 Kit Sierra Way in Carson City near the airport.

District Judge Dave Gamble said his office was contacted by a potential buyer who said there was a problem with the purchase because the property had been refinanced so many times.

"It appears that all this time I have been trying to work with Ms. Theall, she has been thumbing her nose at everything I did. Now there's zero equity in the property."

Her lawyer, Derrick Lopez, said the property was in escrow, due to close Aug. 10 and asked for a continuance.

Gamble refused, but set the matter for a hearing to argue the alleged probation violations.

"Every time I put this off in the past, she has worked very hard to avoid paying restitution," Gamble said.

Lopez said his client was trying to avoid payment.

He said the price on the mobile home was $139,000 of which $95,000 was owed to creditors. Lopez said the title was in the name of Julie and Richard Ladd, which is her married name.

That was done to avoid foreclosure, Lopez said.

He asked Gamble to release her because she had a $10-an-hour receptionist job, but prosecutor Mike McCormick argued against letting her out of Douglas County Jail.

Gamble ordered her to stay in jail pending the June 28 hearing. In 1998, she pleaded guilty to two counts of embezzlement.