Former DMV clerk gets house arrest for pilfering $11,000

PALMER -- A former clerk at the state Division of Motor Vehicles in Palmer convicted of pilfering more than $11,000 in license reinstatement fees will be able to spend her sentence at home under house arrest.

Palmer Superior Court Judge Eric Smith on Feb. 6 sentenced Darcy Nina Riley, 29, to six months on a felony conviction of second-degree theft of DMV funds.

Riley will be able to serve that sentence at home under the Department of Correction's new house arrest program, said DOC spokesman Bruce Richards.

In this program, an ankle bracelet on the inmate's leg links electronically to a box installed in the home. The box sends out a signal to check on the inmate's location, then sends messages to Colorado's BI Inc., a major electronic monitoring company. If there are irregularities, that company contacts DOC.

People can apply to DOC for this program, Richards said, but not everyone would qualify.

"They evaluate each request and apply a furlough matrix," he said. "They look at a lot of factors and then issue a score to judge the risk factors."

There are 81 Anchorage and Valley people in the HAP program, Richards said. Each pays $12-$14 a day to DOC for the monitoring, and some are allowed to work.

First-time offenders with a nonviolent background tend to score high in the rating system, and Riley met the criteria, Richards said.

The case against Riley revealed she apparently began stealing fees from as many as 74 customers in June 2000, according to court documents, when she found a glitch in the computer system that allowed her to erase information. The state alleged she stole a total of $11,590.

Marcy Marshburn, DMV director, testified at Riley's sentencing that DMV had several difficulties after the incident.

"The fallout came in three areas. One was that her activities had a real cost on the division in terms of lost work time and lost productivity, as we lost literally hundreds of hours in investigation and computer time," Marshburn said.

Even worse, DMV lost its reputation for trustworthiness with the public, Marshburn said. "We had worked hard to improve our reputation and service. She shoved us backward."

Defense attorney Scott Dattan asked Smith not to give Riley jail time to serve. "She is suffering humiliation and public condemnation in the Valley's small-town atmosphere. At job interviews she is always asked what is her sentence," Dattan said. "There is no way she can slip into anonymity."

Riley is having a difficult time finding a job, which makes it hard to repay the $11,590 in restitution, Dattan said. Jail time would only set back her efforts to repay the state.

Palmer District Attorney Roman Kalytiak argued that Riley basically received an $11,590 loan without interest. He argued that the judge should sentence Riley to jail time for community condemnation and general deterrence.

Riley made a brief statement that she has apologized several times to her former DMV coworkers and to the public.

"My actions were careless, but I did not mean to hurt anyone. Looking back, I can see that my actions were wrong. Now I would like the opportunity to pay back the money and get the trust back that I have lost," Riley said.

Smith agreed with Kalytiak that "a person could not expect to take more than $11,000 from a public agency and then not receive substantial punishment."

"The number of public employees who take money is tiny and we need to make sure it remains tiny," Smith said. "This crime rippled out and hurt a lot of people. It called into question the integrity of the division as a whole."

Kalytiak said he is concerned because he doesn't feel that house arrest constitutes punishment.

"At the sentencing, I'm talking about jail. The judge is talking about jail. The public thinks we're all talking about jail. And she ends up spending her jail time at home," Kalytiak said.

Since it's a DOC decision about where to place inmates, the state doesn't have any recourse, he said.

"My understanding was that the sentence was to deter others from this kind of conduct. People go to jail. If others learn you get to stay at home after this kind of conduct, it doesn't have much deterrence in my mind," Kalytiak said.

DOC believes house arrest is punitive, Richards said. The person must abide by a list of DOC requirements or risk being taken to jail for any violation.

"She has been convicted and sentenced. Part of her sentence is five years' probation, and paying restitution. Now she has to pay for her own incarceration and is required to program in all the activities of her day," Richards said.

House arrest is one way to ease jail crowding, Richards said, and the Legislature has asked DOC to take this option whenever possible.