Plea deal gives mother of 3 year in jail for $950 theft
LOCKPORT — A Gasport woman who was convicted of stealing $950 worth of rolled quarters in a Lockport burglary was sentenced to a year in jail Wednesday, but it could have been three years.
Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III threw out the jury’s verdict against Brandi N. Voelker, 25, of State Street, and instead approved a plea deal that allowed Voelker to plead guilty to third-degree burglary in exchange for a one-year County Jail term she won’t have to start until Jan. 2. The alternative was a new trial over the Aug. 13, 2007, incident at a home on Niagara Street.
Murphy told Voelker, a mother of three, “You ought to be thankful to your attorney [Patrick M. Balkin] for his heroic efforts. You were about to be sentenced to three years in state prison.” He did order full restitution to the victim, Daniel Burns.
A jury convicted Voelker on Sept. 25 of second-degree burglary, petit larceny and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. However, Murphy said the evidence was “entirely circumstantial” and the verdict “was against the weight of the evidence.”
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