The sentencing of one of two women named as defendants in the 1998 embezzlement of $1.7 million from the Little Switzerland chain of stores has been postponed, and the reason remains a mystery.
Lydia Magras was scheduled to appear before Territorial Court Judge Ishmael Meyers Tuesday morning for sentencing, but Meyers postponed the proceeding on Monday, according to personnel in the court's Jury Division. No reason was given for the delay, and a new sentencing date has not been set.
Magras, who is being represented by attorney Treston Moore, was to be sentenced after pleading no contest on May 27 to the charge of compounding the crime of embezzlement. A Wednesday sentencing is set for co-defendant Lorrain Quetel before Judge Brenda Hollar. Quetel has pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement as part of a plea-bargain arrangement with the government.
Government prosecutors have said that Quetel used her position at Little Switzerland to embezzle $1.7 million from the company and that Magras compounded the crime by allowing the funds to be deposited into accounts of Bon Voyage Travel, to which she had access as an officer of the now-defunct travel agency. At a hearing last week in which Quetel's sentencing was delayed by one week, Assistant Attorney General Douglas Sprotte provided a detailed analysis of how money was siphoned from Little Switzerland, deposited into Bon Voyage Travel and spent by both defendants.
On Monday night, Sprotte had no comment on the latest postponement in the case. Wednesday's sentencing of Quetel is expected to go forward as scheduled.
