Ex-school administrator gets probation for thefts

BILLINGS (AP) — A former administrator in the Billings school district has been sentenced to six years of probation after pleading guilty to stealing electronics and selling them at pawn shops.

District Judge Ingrid Gustafson gave Dulce Fate Whitford a six-year deferred sentence Friday for one count of felony theft by common scheme. If she meets the conditions of the sentence, including paying $16,600 in restitution, the felony can be cleared from her record.

Whitford, 46, pleaded guilty in May to stealing laptops, tablets, a camera and other technology equipment from the district between June 2012 and November 2013. Prosecutors say she used the proceeds to gamble.

Charging documents said investigators found Whitford made almost 60 transactions at various pawn shops in Billings. Gustafson also gave Whitford six-month suspended sentences for unsworn falsification for lying to pawn shops about owning the stolen property. Three other counts were dismissed.

Public defender Edward Werner said Whitford was having financial problems partly due to a family illness.

“While that does not take away from her culpability, I want the court to keep that in mind,” Werner said.

As director of Indian Education for All, Whitford was paid $94,092 annually. She resigned in November 2013.

Deputy Yellowstone County Prosecutor Julie Patten asked for a five-year suspended sentence, which would not allow Whitford to remove the felony from her record. Prosecutors said Whitford used the proceeds from the pawned items to gamble.

“I just want to apologize to my family — it’s been very hard — and to School District 2,” Whitford said. “I have the utmost respect for them and I would just really like to move forward and get on with my life.”

Werner said Whitford’s teaching license was suspended for two years. She had been named the Montana Indian Educator of the Year in 2011.