Woman sentenced for shop heist
The Daily Inter Lake
A Kalispell woman accused of facilitating a heist at the sandwich shop where she worked has been sentenced to three years on probation.
Kayla Lynn Stafford, 21, was ordered to serve a three-year deferred sentence during a hearing Thursday in Flathead County District Court.
Stafford was convicted in September of accountability to burglary, a felony.
In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors recommended Stafford receive probation and dismissed an additional count of burglary.
The Big Town Hero sandwich shop in the 1600 block of U.S. 93 South was burglarized twice between 10 p.m. on Jan. 25 and 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 26.
About $2,000 in cash and checks were stolen from the safe.
Stafford, 19-year-old Kelly Cecil Campbell and 24-year-old Curtis Alan Hartman planned to steal the safe and then break the drive-through window to make the burglary appear forced, rather than an inside job, according to court documents.
But after breaking in once, the trio discovered the safe was bolted to the floor.
Stafford, Campbell, and Hartman reportedly returned to Staffords house, where Stafford called another employee and obtained the safes combination.
At about 11 p.m., Campbell and Hartman returned to the business, again using Staffords key to get inside, and emptied the safe.
Campbell and Hartman also are accused of damaging the door and window to an inside office to cover their tracks.
Stafford, who testified that she refused a portion of the take, was scheduled to open the sandwich shop the next day.
Hartman, of Columbia Falls, is charged with two counts of felony burglary and has yet to be arraigned. He has an active warrant for his arrest.
Campbell on May 1 pleaded innocent to two counts of burglary.
He was freed from jail after posting a $20,000 property bond, but later was arrested for possession of alcohol, obstructing police officers, driving on a suspended license, and driving without insurance during a traffic stop on Half Moon Road. Campbell also is charged with felony drug distribution, to which he pleaded not guilty in July.
If convicted of the burglaries, Campbell and Hartman each face maximum penalties of 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Campbell faces additional prison time if convicted of the drug charge.