Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A bookkeeper from Raintree Nursery in the Morton area is charged with stealing more than $12,000 from her employer.
Debora S. Barnett, 55, was fired after suspicious transactions on the business credit account were reported to the owners and subsequently to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
Barnett made a first appearance before a judge yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court. She is not in custody. Criminal charges were filed earlier this month.
She is charged with one count of first-degree theft.
The owners of the nursery, Maida Richman and Samuel Benowitz, told a deputy in June 2011 they were contacted by a representative of Merchant Card Services, who said the company was alarmed by unusual activity they found, according to charging documents.
Merchant Card Services is the credit card company Raintree used to make refunds to customers.
Raintree is well-known for its mail order business of fruit trees and other edible vines, bushes and plants. It is located on the 300 block of Butts Road west of Morton.
According to charging documents, the owners were told that 18 times between October 2010 and May 2011, refunds went from Raintree, via Merchant Card Services, to a TwinStar Credit Union account which had never made purchases from the nursery. The TwinStar account belonged to Barnett, according to the documents.
The allegations go on to give the following account: The Merchant Card Services representative said she called the nursery several times about it and spoke with Barnett.
When confronted by her bosses, Barnett said there must be some mistake and vowed to investigate. Prosecutor Eric Eisenberg writes that Barnett was hostile, combative and showed no remorse about the situation.
Benowitz fired her and said if she discovered a mistake, she could come back to work and he would apologize.
When contacted by a deputy, Barnett said she was aware of unusually high amounts of money coming into her account, but did not ask any questions about it; and spent it.
“Barnett had no explanation for why the deposits were made to her account, why she spent it or what she spent it on,” Eisenberg wrote.
The sheriff’s office was notified of the discrepancies in June 2011, the day after Raintree was contacted by its credit card service. Barnett was fired and then interviewed by the sheriff’s office that same month but the results of an examination of a computer didn’t come back to local authorities until this past October, according to Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer.
The Washington State Patrol’s crime lab took 11 months to analyze the computer, Meyer said. Charges were filed on March 5 of this year.
Defense attorney Bob Schroeter told a judge yesterday afternoon that Barnett lives in Morton, where she collects about $1,400 a month of unemployment checks, as well as food stamps.
The charges against her include so-called aggravating circumstances of using a position of trust, involving a high degree of sophistication and displaying an egregious lack of remorse.
Barnett’s arraignment is scheduled for March 28.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
As someone who worked at Raintree while this was going on, I really hope that timecards are investigated as well. I found “mistakes” on my timecards several times while she was in charge of payroll. If she stole from the owners, what would stop her from stealing from the employees too?
“Our government had nothing to do with it. Grow up. Stop blaming”
Are you purposefully being thick or are you that way naturally?
Once more:
I NEVER SAID IT WAS THE GOVERNMENT’S FAULT!!!!
I clearly stated that Debora S. Barnett was acting in the same way the BANKS do! The banks steal from PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS, blow the money on gambling and other vices, and they GET A BAILOUT!!!!
Debora S. Barnett deserves a BAILOUT not jail!!!! That is how business in America is done.
And it’s NOT “stealing” if it’s “legal”.
The only thing wrong Debora S. Barnett did was that she got caught!!! Nothing more. And that is HER FAULT. NOT the governments.
Now, could you trolls PLEASE stop twisting my words??
“Man, you guys just can’t GRAPS a simple concept, can you?” No, but we can spell. We can also understand the difference between right and wrong. This used to be what our country was about. Freedom, security, community. No more. Now we have the weak blaming the government, while enjoying the benefits of living here.
A THIEF IS A THIEF. A MURDERER IS A MURDERER. A RAPIST IS A RAPIST.
Our government had nothing to do with it. Grow up. Stop blaming.
“It’s not the governments fault she stole from somebody!”
Man, you guys just can’t graps a simple concept can you?
Nobody is blaming the government. I think that is clear to anybody with a brain-cell.
She stole money because she’s an American. From bankers to politicians, she wasn’t doing anything that our “leaders” and “financial superiors” don’t do on a daily basis.
Nobody is claiming that the government “made her do it”. No, the government just gave her the blueprints and the reasoning and it was up to HER to run with it.
But hey, you LC pedestal people just love to twist the truth and put words into people’s mouths. But, I’m sure the “gubmint” makes you do it eh?
She stole don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time! It’s not the governments fault she stole from somebody!
Just don’t get caught! The government and the banks hate competition.
Here is a simplified explanation….
The banks and corrupt politicians steal money from The People. Not just one person, but an ENTIRE NATION!!
The result? They get bailouts, compensation packages, promotions to higher offices, and other sundry rewards.
Meaning: Theft is OKAY!!! Steal whatever you want to. This is AMERICA….land of the FREE stuff.
“So this woman stole other people’s money from the small mail-order business she worked for because of the government and the banks, not because of her own lack of character?”
That’s correct. Her lack of charcter was just PART of the equation. The other part is the fact she’s not doing anything the banks and government don’t do.
Ever hear of the term, “Monkey see, monkey do”?
If you really want theft to be a “bad thing”, then stop the banks from doing it and punish them. Since nothing happens to the banks after they steal billions, it means that THEFT IN THE UNITED STATES is OKAY!!! Character of lack thereof has very little to do with it.
The bankers obviously don’t lack character and they steal and they get rewarded for it.
I really feel you should re-evaluate the typical american character. The typical american feels entitled to other people’s property and wealth because they are better than the rest of the world.
Rather than being a lack of morality, it’s the American way!!
So this woman stole other people’s money from the small mail-order business she worked for because of the government and the banks, not because of her own lack of character? Got it.
OLDLONGJOHNSON, has hit the NAIL on the Head, and all you so called fine people have totally ignored what he has said. perhaps if you stressed your righteous selves on the, or towards the F’ed up Government who are quickly and busy relinquishing Americans of their Rights, and that includes all you people too. Maybe, just maybe “We The People” could coexist with one another peacefully. But NO, instead you choose to Live On A High Horse and Live in Glass Houses Stoning Your fellow Americans.
What this woman did was wrong. But What Congress, and Corrupt Cops are doing to you, is worse, because this will AFFECT your Children and not in a good way. So continue to feel free to be better then, KARMA is a BITCH and her name is OBAMA!!!!!!!
Statistics hound you’re incorrect. I happen to know from personal experience as an employer dealing with employee theft that all I had to do was show the evidence I had against the person and Employment Security denied their benefits. The thief tried to appeal, but then the no-showed for the appeal hearing. This was before the person was ever charged with a crime in relation to the incident. They were later charged and ended up pleading guilty before the case ever went to trial.
@ OlyChris:
Furthermore, my comment was in reference to Barnette in how SHE couldn’t help herself.
Please try to stay on topic.
Regardless, you’re right, it’s hard for me not to be a POS. I go around smoking weed, dissing religion, and trying to get laid like a miserable dog. My wife left me, my parole officer can’t wait for me to screw up again, and my dog bit me the last time i tried to feed her.
I’m a worthless POS just as you have described. I find it impossible to pass up a gagger of meth, a shotgunned animal beer, and a metallica CD. I hear the sounds of skateboarders and I literally freak the fuck out.
I’m lazy. The last person I worked for was from another country. I ended up quitting, but getting a severance package of an airline ticket home and a month’s salary just to keep my mouth shut. Even then, I still can’t keep my word.
I’m a dickshit who deserves every little thing you have inside of you that you feel you need to release on me. I’m like a trash can you can just dump your own self-loathing into as if you’re an anonymous philanthropist with the general public’s best interests in mind.
Hell, you’re like the Henry Ford of Sirens, constantly churning out a plethora of multi-faceted diamonds created from solid shit.
I don’t know if I love or hate you, or myself for that matter.
But what I do know is this:
If “maintaining your values during times of adversity” means engaging in senseless banter with someone ten times your mental ability, then count me in!
“It may seem hard to you to not be a POS when so many others are.”
I find your innuendos to be in bad taste and outright misleading.
@OldLongJohnson:
It may seem hard to you to not be a POS when so many others are. I on the other hand don’t find it hard at all. It’s called maintaining your values even during times of adversity.
I do believe this person will have to go to court and/or make a plea agreement before being found guilty of a crime. Until then she is entitled to collect unemployment insurance and food stamps. I do not know the law regarding a guilty finding in regard to repayment of resources. Unless of course people prefer to determine the verdict on a media site instead of by the courts.
If she’d have stolen if directly from The Federal Reserve, I’d agree with you, OLJ. We all should get a bail out, but that’s never going to happen. This woman didn’t steal from the criminals that run this country, she stole from the private citizens who employed her.
I still want to know why she is getting unemployment? UNLESS she had the audacity to file a claim and the employer didn’t fight it, she was terminated for theft and should not be getting benefits. Maybe someone one this site knows someone who works for the state and can look into this. The fact that she is so arrogant, and refuses to accept responsibility or show remorse, makes it sound like she needs to be knocked down a few pegs.
She should be investigated for Unemployment Fraud. If she was fired for stealing, then she is ineligible to be drawing unemployment!
It’s hard not to do what this woman has done when all around you, politicians and banksters are doing exactly the same and getting away with it.
When you see people in the banking industy and in government lying about money, hiding money in offshore accounts, engaging in dubious stock transactions, and basically robbing people blind it gives one the impression that theft is actually a good thing and a legitimate way to get ahead. After all, the most successful banks do the exact same thing, and have been for decades!
And not only do these banks and their bought-and-paid for stooges in congress get away with it, but the corporate whore media arrogantly praises these scumbags as “job creators” and “successful entrepreneurs”.
In essence, it seems to me that Debora S. Barnett doesn’t deserve jail, she deserves a BAILOUT!!! It’s the New American Way.
I hope she has to pay back the money to the state from food stamps and unemployment. She lied about her Income.
For the first time in history, I agree with DCE.
The charges against her include so-called aggravating circumstances of using a position of trust, involving a high degree of sophistication and displaying an egregious lack of remorse. “This Sentence Sounds Like Most of the members actions in the US. Congress”
Nice to see she is getting unemployment checks and food stamps after stealing from her employer. I guess Maida Richman and Samuel Benowitz get to pay for that to! Only in America