PLACERVILLE . INFO

William Ferchland, wferchland@tahoedailytribune.com
December 9, 2005


A former Camp Richardson accountant was sentenced to pay $112,674 and spend six months in El Dorado County Jail, and was given five years probation after being convicted by a jury on one count of felony embezzlement.

Jennifer Anne Larsen, 29, will serve her jail sentence beginning May 5, her birthday. Arrested in late 2003, she was found guilty by a jury during an October trial for stealing more than $75,000 from the vault and an ATM machine by filing fake entries on balance sheets.

Larsen maintained her innocence, but she apologized in court to the owners and employees of Camp Richardson. She hoped to avoid time behind bars.

"I will do anything and work and pay restitution as soon as possible," she said during her Thursday sentencing.

Her attorney, Laura Raycraft, said other employees at Camp Richardson were responsible for the theft. Raycraft didn't debate $75,000 was a lofty sum, but said the crime was less harmful than others.

"This is a white-collared crime," she said. "This is not a crime where a person has been physically harmed."

Bob Hassett, owner of Camp Richardson, lobbied El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Jerald Lasarow for Larsen's imprisonment, seeking the maximum of three years.

In a letter submitted to court, Hassett said the loss of money stymied pay raises for employees, caused price increases at his properties and instilled in him a dispiriting sense of distrust.

"An amateur didn't commit this crime," Hassett wrote. "Ms. Larsen weaved a very confusing, difficult to follow web of lies and deceit and was able to hide them in such a way that they did not immediately attract attention. She knew exactly what she was doing the entire time she was doing it."

Despite her conviction, Bruce Cable, Larsen's father-in-law who is a Stateline accountant, hired Larsen. He asked Lasarow to not sentence jail time, allowing her to work to chip away at the hefty restitution sum.

"I have nothing but the utmost confidence in her abilities, her integrity and the ability to do right," Cable said.

Lasarow had the difficulty in weighing a choice between probation without jail time, which would allow Larsen to help pay back Camp Richardson, and jail time, which would be detrimental to Larsen, her family and her capacity to pay.

But he also kept in mind past embezzlement cases, such as Mary Kay McLanahan, a former city of South Lake Tahoe planner hooked on cocaine who pleaded guilty in October to stealing city money but paid back the $55,000 in restitution. She received probation and three months of work release.

He also cited Terry LeBan, who used her job as executive director of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority to take funds she used to fuel her gambling addiction. LeBan received six month in jail as well as injuries suffered from a failed suicide attempt via a car crash.

"I don't think in this type of case that jail time will be a benefit to anybody," Raycraft said outside of court.

Deputy District Attorney Lisa Serafini said the two women differed from Larsen in apologizing and admitting guilt.

"So not only is she a thief, she's a liar, and so she's demonstrating no remorse for her behavior," Serafini said. "Her continuing denial of responsibility demonstrates that she's likely to commit the same offense again if given the opportunity."

Lasarow advised Camp Richardson to take better safeguards against such crimes. He partly sympathized with Larsen in knowing one can't show remorse if one is innocent, but noted the influence of a business losing $75,000.

"Seventy-five thousand dollars is a lot of money," he said. "A business can go bankrupt. A family can lose their home. ... So many things can happen."