By Michael McCutcheon & Marisol Franco
WOODLAND, CA – A judge, fearful an accused would flee, ruled late last week here in Yolo County Superior Court that her bail should remain at $10,000 despite her inability to pay.
But, a few minutes later, a plea agreement was reached concerning felony grand theft and felony conspiracy to commit a felony, and the accused is now to be sentenced on May 19.
The judge, only after the deal, decided then to release the accused on her own recognizance (OR), meaning that she will be released unsupervised until her next court date.
On February 22, 2023, the accused was charged with a theft at a Marshalls department store, allegedly entering the store with a grocery cart as several others trailed behind her a few minutes apart.
Surveillance, said the court, showed the accused traveling around different sections of the store and loading her cart with merchandise before exiting without payment. She and the other co-accuseds left the property in the same vehicle and were later apprehended by police. The amount stolen totaled out to be just a little more than $1,800.
Following her preliminary hearing, Deputy Public Defender Martha Sequeira brought into question the amount of her bail, which had previously been set at $10,000, and noted an inability to pay.
Deputy District Attorney Preston Schaub argued in favor of maintaining the current bail amount, stating that, while her crimes were not violent and she poses little threat to the community, she is at high-risk of fleeing the county, because she has outstanding warrants in Tehama County and she could flee the county with other co-conspirators.
Based on the arguments put forth by DDA Schaub, Judge Samuel McAdam maintained the current bail amount of $10,000, essentially keeping the accused in custody until May 19, her next court date.
But DDA Schaub then offered a deal requiring a no contest plea to one of the felony charges in exchange for dropping the other felony charge and an enhancement for a prior felony offense and supervised probation instead of jail time.
PD Sequeira and the accused accepted the plea agreement and the accused was released on OR until May 19, where she will be sentenced along with several of her co-charged.
Despite Judge McAdam declaring the accused a flight risk, he still decided to grant OR after the plea deal.
