GetSheila

Weather is a serious thing

I did not make fun of East Coasters for overreacting to their little earthquake.

I do not mock other states who complain about a few weeks of swelter we deal with ALL SUMMER LONG.

No, because, one day, it’s going to snow in Central California and we’ll be all:

• OMG! How are we supposed to drive in this slippery stuff?
• Breaking news: “Tragic deaths in Central California: people too stupid to get inside where it’s warm.”
• Eek! All this moisture makes my hair frizz!

When that happens and someone who lives with snow all the time makes fun of us, I will have the moral high ground and no compunction about punching them in the face.

 

Technorati Tags: east coast earthquake,weather woes

Sziraki Saga Finally Over

Over for us gawkers, that is. Just beginning for Kim.

Merced Sun-Star Friday, Sep. 17, 2010 Sziraki sentenced to seven years for embezzling more than $1.4 million from Merced nut plant By VICTOR A. PATTON - vpatton@mercedsun-star.com A "selfish act" requiring sophisticated planning to bring to fruition. Those were the words Judge Ronald Hansen used Friday to describe the crimes of convicted embezzler Kimberly Sziraki, before revealing her sentence in Merced County Superior Court: seven years in state prison. Friends and family members of Sziraki wept openly after Hansen announced his verdict. The 45-year-old mother of four was convicted of embezzling $1,476,510 from nut processing plant Central Valley Processing Acquisition Corp. between 2005 and 2008, where she worked as a manager. She also was ordered to repay the money. Wearing a pink sweater, her brown hair pulled back, Sziraki tried comforting her devastated children and husband, Merced County Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Sziraki, after the verdict was read. She turned to them and offered a melancholy smile, followed by a sharp wink. Shortly afterward, she exchanged hugs with several well-wishers and was led away by bailiffs to begin serving her sentence. She pleaded no contest in June to four felony counts of embezzlement and unlawfully using a credit card, as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Thirteen counts were dropped as part of the deal. Prosecutors said there's no evidence Steve Sziraki was aware of the crimes when they were happening. Before Friday's hearing, Kimberly Sziraki had faced between five and eight years in prison. Her attorney, John Garcia, on Friday argued for a minimum sentence of five years, saying she had no prior record, had expressed remorse and was in the grips of alcoholism at the time of the crimes. Sziraki dabbed her eyes with a tissue as Garcia spoke of how she was an online gambling addict who on one occasion spent $400,000 in less than three hours. Sziraki was also suffering from severe depression coupled with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, Garcia related, saying she cooperated fully with investigators from the district attorney's office in the case. "There are no expensive vacations, no expensive automobiles, no expensive renovations to homes," Garcia told Hansen. "All of this money was unfortunately squandered through alcohol addiction." Chief Deputy District Attorney John Goold took exception with how Garcia characterized Sziraki. "Having an addictive personality does not mean your actions are involuntary," Goold said. Ultimately, Hansen also disagreed with Garcia, saying the crimes happened on many occasions over a period of years. Hansen also highlighted the deceptive means Sziraki used to steal, such as writing checks to herself and making false entries in the company's books. Hansen pointed out the massive amount Sziraki had embezzled, saying she'd have faced an "astronomical" sentence if there were separate counts for each illicit check. "I do not find mental condition reduces the culpability for the crime," Hansen said. Ken Spagnola, who co-owns Central Valley Processing with his wife, said the $1.4 million loss didn't include the collateral damage and heartache Sziraki caused his company. For example, employee salaries were cut because of her actions, Spagnola said, adding there were payroll taxes that went unpaid when she was at the company. Spagnola said the seven-year sentence was about what he would expect. "They could have put her in prison for the rest of her life -- and that's not what I would have wanted," Spagnola said. "If she ends up spending half the time in prison, I think that's a good sentence." Still, Sziraki had her supporters, including Merced City Councilman Bill Blake. The former undersheriff wrote a letter to Hansen, asking for leniency. Blake, who shares a grandson with Sziraki, said he'd noticed her alcohol addiction became more "pronounced" over the years, and her personality had changed as a result. "It became clear to me that Kim was on the verge of a breakdown as she deteriorated from the alcohol abuse and depression," Blake wrote. "You could tell when talking to Kim that she was struggling to keep up a happy appearance and it was noticeable when compared with four years prior when her happiness was sincere and not affected by alcohol and depression." Although Blake, who wasn't present at Friday's hearing, wrote he could imagine the outrage of the victims, he said Sziraki's family would experience an "immense loss" with a wife, mother and grandmother being sent to prison. "Kim Sziraki is irreplaceable to her family and friends and the time she is gone will leave a huge void in the lives of many and will be time lost that will hurt her and many around her." Blake wasn't the only familiar name on Sziraki's list of supporters. Diana Almanza, former director of the now-defunct "A Woman's Place." also turned up at Sziraki's sentencing hearing and wrote a letter of support. Almanza made headlines in 2008 after she crashed into a parked van on Dinkey Creek Avenue. Police said she'd been drinking. Less than a week later, she hit the same van and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent, police reported. Almanza pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving and a hit-and-run. In her letter, Almanza asked Hansen for the "lowest possible" sentence. "She certainly will not be in a position to be able to repeat this offense and, quite frankly, I cannot imagine that she will ever repeat any illegal activity given her remarkable record of committing no crime prior to this offense," Almanza wrote. Sziraki will probably be sent to a prison in Chowchilla, Garcia said, but exactly where hasn't been determined yet. Because the crime wasn't a violent offense, she could be paroled in three-and-a-half years. "I expect that she's going to be a model prisoner and will get out in the least possible time," Garcia said. The District Attorney's Office originally projected Sziraki had embezzled $1.6 million, but that figure was later scaled back to $1.4 million. Reporter Victor A.Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com. Read more: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2010/09/17/1573753/sziraki-sentenced-to-seven-years.html#ixzz0ztsU6pop

Now that I’ve served as a juror, I more fully understand the defense attorney’s job, which is to protect his client’s rights throughout the trial and get the sentence reduced as much as possible if, as in this case, his client pleads guilty. So I can’t really make fun of him for all the outlandish reasons he gave for her behavior, asserted in an attempt to reduce her culpability and thereby her sentence.

Actually, I can, but that would be wrong.

So I’ll just make fun of Bill Blake and Diana Almanza instead.

Bill, you know I love you, but you were Undersheriff for crying out loud. Leniency? She systematically and blatantly broke the law over an extended period of time, ruining a company in the process. It’s still afloat only by the grace of the employees taking pay cuts, so I hear. You do share a grandson so I suppose I understand your motives. However, the excerpt above seems to indicate you saw her headed for a breakdown but took no action. You are such a good man. Please don’t turn into an icky politician now that you’re on the City Council.

Diana, I don’t know you but I saw the devastation you left behind at A Woman’s Place. Your attorney – Hey, look at that, you had the same attorney Kim does. What a small world. – said you were scapegoated for the agency’s collapse. You were the Director. Who else do you suggest they blame? But my real point is this: do you actually think it helped Kim to have a former two time hit-and-run drunk driver write a letter on her behalf?

Yes, I am so going to hell. (If there is one.)

As a CPA, financial crimes really stick in my craw. The payroll tax thing is especially problematic for the company. The company withheld payroll taxes from employee checks but Kim stole that money so it was never forwarded on to the federal and state governments. The company is still on the hook for paying in those taxes. If they don’t, the employees don’t get credit for their income tax withholdings or payments into social security and state disability funds via FICA and SDI withholdings. If they do pay them, they’re essentially paying them twice since they first paid them out to Kim (unbeknownst to them) and it is unlikely she has the cash to pay them back. Also, the IRS and EDD will hit them with penalties and interest for late payment. NIGHTMARE.

I’m just so glad the public drama is finally over. At least Kim will be close to home in Chowchilla Women’s Prison. Did you know there are two down there, right across the street from each other:

• Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF), which houses the State of California’s death row for women, and
• Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW)

Wonder which one she’ll end up in.

Photo credits: hover over photos for credits

Technorati Tags: kim sziraki,kim walker,merced embezzlement,atwater high songleader hall of shame

Sziraki Pleads Out

Here you go, my pretties:

Merced Sun-Star, Friday, Jun. 11, 2010 Kimberly Sziraki pleads no contest in $1.6 million embezzlement case By VICTOR A. PATTON - vpatton@mercedsun-star.com Embezzlement defendant Kimberly Sziraki pleaded no contest to four felony counts of embezzlement and theft Friday in Merced County Superior Court. She'd been charged with stealing $1.6 million from a Merced nut processing plant. As part of the plea agreement with prosecutors from the Merced County District Attorney's Office, Sziraki will be sentenced to between five and eight years in prison. She's scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Ronald Hansen on July 23. The remaining 13 counts Sziraki, 45, was facing were dismissed as part of the agreement. Prosecutors said Sziraki embezzled the $1.6 million between 2005 and 2008 from Central Valley Processing Acquisition Corp., a nut processing plant in Merced County where she worked as a manager. Chief Deputy District Attorney Mark Bacciarini said the lion's share of the money was spent on online gambling. She's married to Merced County Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Sziraki. Prosecutors have said there's no evidence he was aware of the crimes. Before the plea deal, Sziraki was facing a maximum of 17 years in prison. Bacciarini said he'll push for Sziraki to serve a maximum sentence of eight years in prison. None of the stolen money has been recovered. "The damage in this case went beyond just the taking of the money," Bacciarini said. "We're talking about putting a business, its suppliers and employees in peril. It did a lot of damage to that company." John Garcia, Sziraki's attorney, said he'll urge Hansen to sentence his client to the minimum term, based on her otherwise clean criminal record and the fact she cooperated with investigators and admitted her crimes. Garcia said his client was in the grips of alcoholism, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and a number of "emotional and psychological conditions" when the crimes happened. "We plan on bringing an expert opinion at the time of sentencing with actual medical reports and doctors reports, psychological and otherwise, that will verify it," Garcia said. Still, Garcia acknowledged that the outcome for his client could have been worse, especially if she had gone to trial facing all 17 counts. "Under the plea arrangement, we were able to at least manage and control the amount of years she would get," Garcia said. "We thought this was the most prudent way to go with this case." Even though many of the counts were dismissed, Sziraki will probably be ordered to pay total restitution costs to the nut processor. The Merced County Office of Probation will submit a restitution report to Hansen before sentencing. Ken Spagnola, owner of Central Valley Processing Acquisition, said he's pleased with the resolution of the case. He hopes Sziraki will be sentenced to the maximum eight years in prison. "I'm glad things turned out the way they did," Spagnola said. "I was really nervous (prosecutors) were going to let her get off for nothing. She's done a horrible amount of damage. I feel she should pay for what she's done." Merced County has seen several high-profile embezzlement cases in recent years. In October, former Los Banos city employee Mary Ann Jones was sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing more than $1.7 million in cash from city coffers. In another case, Stockton resident Ajay Chandra was sentenced to four years, four months in prison for stealing $1.1 million from Central Valley Concrete and Trucking, where he worked as CFO. Bacciarini said prosecutors considered the resolution of similar cases in making the plea agreement with Sziraki's attorney. "We've got to be consistent, to punish similar conduct a similar way," Bacciarini said. Sziraki also pleaded to an enhancement as part of the agreement, admitting to stealing an amount above $500,000. She remains free on bail and isn't expected to be taken into custody until her July 23 sentencing. Reporter Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com. The online story is here, until the Sun-Star moves it and breads the link: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2010/06/11/1456054/kimberly-sziraki-pleads-no-contest.html#ixzz0qvp85REr

 

See comments already posted before I put this up starting here plus the two subsequent comments.

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Hat tip to mom and JCW, who sent me this link virtually at the same time. Sometimes I think I should read the paper more but then I remember I don’t have to because I have you guys.

Technorati Tags: sziraki,kim sziraki,kim walker,merced embezzlement,spagnola

Sziraki Seeking Deal

As you may have noticed, I am taking a break from blogging to find my inner peace.

And get some laundry done.

I cannot, however, leave you uninformed in the Kim Walker Sziraki - former AHS songleader - embezzlement saga. If you have not read this already, here is the latest from the Merced Sun-Star.

Saturday, May. 08, 2010 Embezzle defendant might be seeking deal Sziraki doesn't want preliminary hearing. By VICTOR A. PATTON vpatton@mercedsun-star.com Million-dollar embezzlement defendant Kimberly Sziraki waived her right to a preliminary hearing in Merced County Superior Court on Friday, possibly signaling a resolution to her case soon. During a preliminary hearing, the District Attorney's Office must provide sufficient evidence that a crime occurred. Because Sziraki, 45, waived her right to a preliminary hearing, however, the case can now move forward without a judge's determination that ample evidence exists to try her. Judge Ronald Hansen set Sziraki's next hearing for June 7. Her attorney, John Garcia, said he still doubts the case will go to trial. "Unless there's a complete breakdown in negotiations, (that's) the only way I can see this actually going to jury trial," Garcia said. "I am confident that (Chief Deputy District Attorney) Mark Bacciarini and I will probably come to some sort of agreement." Bacciarini, the prosecutor in the case, declined comment Friday about whether a plea agreement is in the works. Garcia said his client waived her right to a preliminary hearing primarily because she understood she'd be held to answer on the charges. The question now isn't whether Sziraki committed a crime, Garcia said, but what sentence she'll ultimately receive. He's hopeful Sziraki will receive a lenient sentence, especially because she has no prior criminal record and was suffering from alcoholism and other medical issues. Still, Garcia acknowledged that prosecutors are pushing for prison. "Mrs. Sziraki has never denied wrongdoing. She's never denied that there were acts of embezzlement. It's always been a matter of what would be the appropriate disposition," Garcia said. During Friday's hearing, Judge Ronald Hansen also approved a motion by the prosecution to merge both embezzlement cases against Sziraki into one. Sziraki is accused of embezzling $1.6 million between 2005 and 2008 from Central Valley Processing Acquisition Corp., a nut processing plant in Merced County where she'd worked as a manager. She faces a total of 17 counts, most of which are felony embezzlement charges. If convicted, she faces a maximum of 17 years in prison. She remains free on bail. Reporter Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com.

I am no longer as gleefully voyeuristic about Kim’s situation as I once was. Now it just makes me sad. Sad and disappointed that someone I once spent a lot of time with chose a path of deceit. And for what? A big house? Fancy cars? Boob jobs for her and her daughters?

I have no proof of that last part, or any of it for that matter. I am just passing on gossip from Sun-Star comments on earlier Sziraki articles.

Okay, maybe still a little bit gleeful.

I am so going to hell when I die.

(If there is one.)

_______________________________________________________________________

Related posts:

Atwater High Songleader Hall of Shame

Sziraki Saga Continues

More Sziraki News – Brace Yourself

Sziraki Train Wreck Update

Technorati Tags: kim sziraki,kim walker,merced embezzlement

Sziraki Train Wreck Update

If you missed my prior posts on the Kim Sziraki embezzlement fiasco…

1. Atwater High Songleader Hall of Shame
2. Sziraki Saga Continues
3. More Sziraki News – Brace Yourself

…this one should catch you up nicely:

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Merced Sun-Star
Monday, Nov. 16, 2009

Prosecutors double amount Sziraki allegedly embezzled to $1.6M

By VICTOR A. PATTON

Prosecutors say they've uncovered more evidence in the case of embezzlement suspect Kimberly Sziraki, claiming the amount of alleged stolen funds has doubled to about $1.6 million.

Sziraki, 45, was arrested Jan. 7 on suspicion of embezzling money from Central Valley Processing Acquisition Corp. in Merced, where she'd worked as a manager. She was charged with three felony counts of embezzlement and one count of unlawful use of an access card.

Sziraki is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on 13 additional counts of felony embezzlement, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Mark Bacciarini. The Merced County District Attorney's Office filed those charges in Merced County Superior Court last week.

According to Bacciarini, the latest 13 counts were filed after investigators from the district attorney's office issued a subpoena for bank records from a Bank of America account shared by Sziraki and her husband, Merced County Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Sziraki.

Investigators found evidence of $279,126 in wire transfers and $524,172 in Central Valley Processing checks Kimberly Sziraki allegedly deposited into the Bank of America account between December 2005 and January 2007, Bacciarini said.

Sziraki was already facing charges for allegedly depositing about $832,000 from CVP into a Washington Mutual account between March 2006 and February 2008.

An examination of Sziraki's Washington Mutual and Bank of America accounts appears to indicate that a total of $1.6 million was embezzled from CVP between 2005 to 2008, Bacciarini said.

Sziraki was facing between five and 10 years in prison. Now that she's facing 13 additional charges, she could face 17 years behind bars if convicted.

The Bank of America account was in the name of Sziraki and her husband, but Bacciarini said there's no evidence Steve Sziraki knew about the stolen funds. The husband hasn't been charged in the case.

Investigators are still trying to account for what happened to the stolen funds. None of the money has been recovered, and some of it may have been spent on gambling, Bacciarini said.

Sziraki pleaded not guilty to the first four charges in January.

John Garcia, her attorney, said he couldn't comment specifically on the latest charges because he hasn't seen them. Still, Garcia said he wants to confirm whether the district attorney's office is inflating the amount of allegedly embezzled funds. "If they have that evidence, I am certainly very anxious to see that," Garcia said. "But I would certainly like to verify all of that stuff through a CPA."

Even if Sziraki is convicted, Garcia said he's hopeful she'd receive a sentence of probation, as opposed to prison. Sziraki was suffering from alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder when the alleged crime happened, Garcia said.

Garcia said his client has cooperated fully with investigators, adding that he "doesn't see the point" in spending taxpayer dollars to incarcerate a nonviolent person with no criminal background. He noted that Sziraki has been in treatment.

Ken Spagnola, owner of Central Valley Processing, said he wasn't surprised investigators found more alleged embezzled funds. Since Sziraki's arrest in January, Spagnola has steadfastly maintained she stole more than $1 million. "I knew right away that the B of A account was a smoking gun," Spagnola said.

The alleged embezzlement began after Sziraki took over for a plant manager who had fallen ill to cancer, Spagnola said.

Spagnola said the alleged crimes came to light after he hired a bookkeeper, who spotted a wire transfer into a personal account for Sziraki. Spagnola said he also noticed that Sziraki hadn't been paying the company's payroll taxes. In April 2008, he contacted the Merced County District Attorney's Office about the missing funds.

Sziraki remains free on bail.

Reporter Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com.

(Full story at the Merced Sun Star website , until they move it and break the link.)

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My favorite part is where Kim’s attorney says he doesn't see the point in spending taxpayer dollars to incarcerate a nonviolent person with no criminal background.

I agree! Why do we incarcerate anyone who commits a nonviolent crime? I mean, it’s not like it’s the law or anything. Who cares if the family who owns the company might go broke or have to lay off a bunch of hard working employees because of the $1.6 MILLION DOLLARS she took? Come on! There was no violence. Let’s just call her a naughty girl and send her to bed without dessert.

*pokes own eye out with a sharpened pixie stick*

 

Technorati Tags: kim sziraki,kim walker,merced embezzlement

Michelle Obama is coming to town

You better watch out, you better not cry…oh wait, wrong historical personage. And a fictitious one at that. Oops.

First Lady Michelle Obama will be in Merced Saturday to address the first full graduating class at UC Merced’s commencement ceremony. I am truly excited for Merced. This is a Very Big Deal for podunk little us. I just hope we don’t screw it up.

What.

Oh, you want me to be a little more positive, do you? Well, let me tell you about my Wednesday instead and perhaps you will better understand my mood.

Word spread around town that UC Merced needed volunteers to work the graduation since it expanded from an expected 1,000 or so attendees to 12,000 after the First Lady announced she would address the Class. I volunteered along with a few others from the office and we all signed up for the 2:00 orientation on Wednesday.

Except we could not find the 2:00 orientation on Wednesday and nobody in the main administrative building knew anything about it, including the woman who signed us up.

Um yeah, the woman who made us give her our email addresses and had us choose which of the three orientation times we wanted to attend. That woman.

Luckily, a nice man who just happened to be passing by heard our plight and went out of his way to help us. He found out where we needed to be and took us all the way over there, which involved a Keystone Cops version of car parking when he realized we would be ticketed if we stayed where we were. Round and round we went through various parking lots – all full – until he finally had us park in the construction lot. Here we are:

Do you see the size of the rocks in which we are parked? More on that later. By the way, that is the same general direction the First Lady will be looking when she addresses the Class, only her view will include cows grazing in a pasture you cannot see just beyond the construction barrier.

So, we three -  plus two spouses who were roped into volunteering - arrive rather late to a briefing given by…the police department? The room is a sea of students, among which we are the only adults. Or at least the only full-time working adults, other than the two police officers giving the briefing.

They are talking about busses. It takes me a few minutes to realize 1) they need people for “parking lot screening” at three off-campus sites around town to make sure attendees do not bring prohibited items onto the bus and hence into the event (coolers, roller skates, laser pointers…oh, and weapons), 2) they need people to man the metal detectors on-campus, and 3) I made a big mistake when I volunteered to help out.

Then they said parking lot screeners have to be there at 5:00 AM but people manning the metal detectors can sleep a whole extra hour because they don’t have to arrive until 6:00 AM. For a ceremony that begins at 1:30 PM.

WTF? Oh, and you don’t get to choose which job you will do. They are so short handed they will put people wherever they need them and you will get an email before the big day telling you your assignment.

It was at this point we five looked at each other and said, I don’t think so. We stayed after to let the officers know to take us off the list because the job was not quite what we thought it would be but guess what? We weren’t on the list. Not one of us.

When we told him who our contact was, he said, “Well that explains it,” but then I think he realized what he said and told us she was just one of many “traffic cops” not really associated with the event but directing people to where they needed to go.

Yeah, well there’s a five car pileup on her corner, buddy.

I don’t know what I expected to be doing as a volunteer. Food service? Ushering attendees to their seats? The officer said he was only in charge of the police department volunteers – he was about forty shy of his goal of two hundred – but thought there were many other volunteer opportunities through the UC itself. When we asked where to go for that, he said to contact the same person we contacted the first time.

The one who didn’t sign us up the first time and didn’t know where the meeting was when we arrived? That one?

We opted to get the hell out of there as fast as humanly possible. Except remember those giant rocks in the construction parking area? My car got stuck on the way out. Of course. Because that is how my Wednesday was going.

Thank god the construction boys were leaving for the day. One of them teamed up with my friend Nash and pushed my little Prius to safety. Meanwhile, my friend Janice backed her Jetta way the hell up to avoid any flying rocks and she and Nash took a safer route out of the parking lot of doom.

It’s going to be 101 degrees Saturday. I plan to watch First Lady Michelle Obama’s UC Merced commencement speech on my 42” plasma HDTV while sipping a cool beverage after sleeping in until 9:00 or 10:00 AM.

 

Technorati Tags: First Lady Michelle Obama visits Merced,UC Merced 2009 graduation,UC Merced commencement,clusterfuck

More Sziraki News – Brace Yourself

I shall try not to be All Sziraki, All The Time over here in future, but I have to pass on this story in the Merced Sun-Star (story moved by Sun-Star-link broken) with the latest update about Kimberly Sziraki because I know how much you all love to hate.

Some excerpts:

Theft suspect may not get prison time

A probation department pre-plea report states: …Sziraki, who is married to Merced County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Steve Sziraki, should be granted probation because she doesn't have a previous criminal history. … was suffering from an addiction to alcohol and a psychological disorder, which may have impaired her judgment when the alleged crime was committed. …was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, had become overwhelmed at her job and was self-medicating with alcohol.

Sziraki’s attorney, John Garcia, states: …she doesn't deny the offenses…but also can't remember what she did with the embezzled funds. "What's the point of throwing her in a cave for five years…This is a life worth salvaging." [Sziraki] has been in treatment. "She's really cleaned up her act"

The probation department's report is key because the Merced County District Attorney's Office recently offered Sziraki, 44, a plea deal of five years in prison. Under the terms of the deal, Sziraki would also have to pay restitution costs of $832,000 -- the amount of money she is accused of stealing from a Merced nut-processing plant.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Mark Bacciarini responds: "I will object to the court's adopting that recommendation, based on the amount taken, sophistication of the crime and the length of time over which the criminal conduct took place"

To read the full article by Victor A. Patton and some really pissed off comments, go to the Sun-Star: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/834294.html. (Story moved by Sun-Star-link broken)

People are NOT happy over there.

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Hat tip to RW for bringing this article to my attention. If you have a blog, let me know. I will be happy to link to you.

Related posts:

Atwater High Songleader Hall of Shame

Sziraki Saga Continues

Technorati Tags: kim walker,kim sziraki,merced embezzlement

Sziraki Saga Continues

Background post: former Atwater High songleader arrested for embezzlement

Steve Sziraki was in court to beg for leniency and ask for Kim’s release on the grounds she is not a flight risk.

He cried.

He came to court on crutches (good sympathy vote strategy.)

He said Kim has been seeing a psychologist for two years and needs her prescription meds.

1. Do they deny people of needed medication in jail? Really? I had no idea.
2. Is this groundwork for some sort of “Kim is mentally unstable hence not responsible for her actions” defense? Because if so, I may vomit.

The take-away from the article (Sun-Star moved the story and broke the link!), and do try to get past the lead sentence, won’t you? – is this quote from Steve Sziraki:

"I'm not defending what she's done," he said, "but she's a good person."

So for everyone out there who said to wait for the courts to decide if she is really guilty and to give the girl a break because maybe she didn’t really do it, well, there you go. Straight from the husband’s mouth.

 

Technorati Tags: kim walker,kim sziraki,merced embezzlement,atwater high songleader hall of shame

Atwater High Songleader Hall of Shame

FORMER SONGLEADER CONVICTED OF EMBEZZLEMENT.

That’s right people, I personally know not one but two women who have been convicted of embezzlement in Merced County. They were both Songleaders at Atwater High School the same time I was.

The latest is Kim Sziraki (nee Walker), who embezzled $832,000 from a local nut processing plant. The ironic part? Her Sheriff husband heads up the local STAR team (think SWAT for Sheriffs.)

Here she is back in high school. Doesn’t she look sweet?

Don’t let that sweet smile fool you. That bitch was evil. I was napping on the bus on the way home from a competition once and she thought it would be funny to pour the dusty contents of a Pixie Stick in my ear as I lay there on my side.

IN MY EAR. She and Charlotte Martin thought it was hilarious. Mrs. Dallas, the Cheer advisor, didn’t do a thing in punishment other than make her sit somewhere else for the rest of the trip home while I tried to get the Pixie dust out of my ear canal.

Here is the former 1980-81 Songleader now:

What a difference 26 years makes.

The other embezzlista I know is Terry Laudate (nee Brady) who stole money and clothing from a local boutique a few years back. She claimed it was all a big misunderstanding when she was busted. She served her jail time and now works at a local mattress store.

Terry graduated in 1980 and was one of the most popular girls at school. Back then, it was the fashion to wear your mascara thick and clumpy like hairy spider legs and Tammy Faye Bakker.

At cheerleading camp, the rest of us spent most of our free time plotting to get a photo of Terry Brady and Toni Mancebo without makeup.

Never happened. They slept in their makeup to make it so.

What is it that gives some people a sense of entitlement? Why did these women not outgrow the childish behavior of wanting what they want and wanting it NOW like the rest of us did?

Of course, I do still have that attitude, quite often actually, but I don’t act on it. At least not with other people’s money. I spend my own money and get into my own debt and work my own butt off to pay for it all.

I don’t get the embezzlement thing. It makes me feel icky just thinking about it.

There have been a lot of cheer- and songleaders at Atwater High School, most of which go on to lead normal, productive lives.

Please don’t hold these two morons against us.

Technorati Tags: kim walker,kim sziraki,merced embezzlement,atwater high songleader arrested

And they said being an accountant would turn me Republican

Who is your BFF Presidential candidate? Take the quiz!

80% John Edwards
72% Hillary Clinton
72% Bill Richardson
70% Barack Obama
69% Joe Biden
67% Chris Dodd
67% Mike Gravel
60% Dennis Kucinich
46% Tom Tancredo
43% Mike Huckabee
42% Rudy Giuliani
40% John McCain
35% Mitt Romney
31% Fred Thompson
24% Ron Paul

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

via TunaGirl

Tags: 2008 presidential candidate