Another chapter in the two-year-old case involving the embezzlement of $1.7 million dollars from Little Switzerland came to a close Wednesday, when Territorial Court Judge Ishmael A. Meyers sentenced a second defendant to two years and nine months in jail for her role in laundering monies from the general merchandise stores to a now-defunct travel agency.
The case dates back to 1997, when auditors found that money was being siphoned out of Little Switzerland's account and funneled through Bon Voyage Travel. In court Wednesday morning, Meyers imposed sentence after hearing impassioned pleas by defense attorney Treston Moore and the defendant, Lydia Magras herself. The government did not address the court during the sentencing.
Moore said Magras was caught accepting money from co-defendant Lorrain Quetel and was unaware the money was stolen. "My client is very sorry for what has been done," Moore said, adding that "she wants to make restitution to undo what was done but she does not have the financial wherewithal to do that."
"I believe this is a non-violent crime, where no one was injured," he said, urging Meyers to grant probation and assign Magras to community service.
Magras faced up to three years in jail the result of a nolo contendere or no contest plea filed in May, just days before the case was to go to jury trial. A no contest plea to the felony crime carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail.
In brief comments to the court, Magras explained she was led to believe that a $25,000 check she deposited into her travel agency accounts from Quetel was a deposit to a 401(k) retirement pension. "I trusted Lorrain Quetel and she misled me," Magras said.
She apologized to Little Switzerland, her family and friends, saying she lost her business, Bon Voyage Travel, as well as the respect of family and friends. Magras told the court that over the three-year duration of the case she had been humiliated by the media and had lost all faith. "If I could take back that one day in August 1996 when I accepted the check, I would," she said, her voice wavering at times. All I can do, she said, is to use the experience to make me a better person.
Before imposing sentence, Meyers acknowledged receiving numerous letters of recommendation from Magras family, friends and co-workers. But "there is more to this than meets the eye," the judge said.
Expressing some annoyance at the methods by which the government handled the case, Meyers said he was at a loss to understand why the government did not go forward with the original embezzlement and conspiracy charges it had filed against Magras.
Meyers said he denied granting community service and probation because in "there is a large amount of money involved in this case." Citing this case as only the third time in his 18-plus years on the bench that he has accepted a no-contest plea, Meyers said the government's plea bargain was "overgenerous."
He went on to describe Magras as being well aware of what transpired in the embezzlement scheme. "I cannot say you were a key player, but you were a player," he said, despite Magras' assertions that she was innocent or unaware of what financial transactions were running through her business.
"You can plea innocent, you can turn your back on it, but it does not excuse your behavior," he said.
He sentenced Magras to 33 months with credit for six days served when she was initially detained in Atlanta and on St. Thomas in 1997.
Meyers rejected Moore's motion that Magras remain free pending appeal. "You can appeal, but the sentence begins today," Meyers declared. He also assessed a $75 fee to cover court costs. Magras was escorted out of the courtroom to the lockdown cell by Territorial Court marshals and Corrections guards, leaving behind her son and four benches of family members some of them sobbing.
Assistant Attorney General Douglas Sprotte said the case involved hundreds of man-hours spent investigating hundreds of financial transactions. The investigation, he said, continued long after the arrest was made, and Special Agent Nicholas Peru, with the assistance of the Inspector General, tracked the money through numerous hands.
The changes in the charges, Sprotte said, reflected the ongoing investigation, and the Justice Department's involvement in the matter will continue. Sprotte said the matter is not yet closed.
Little Switzerland's attorney, Adriane Dudley, said in reacting to the sentence that justice had been served. She said she looks forward to civil suits against both defendants so that closure can be brought to this saga.
Quetel, the Little Switzerland employee who pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement as part of a plea-bargain with the government, was sentenced three weeks ago by Territorial Court Judge Brenda J. Hollar to 10 years in jail with four years suspended. Both women are expected to serve their sentences at the Golden Grove Correctional Facility in St. Croix.
