Suspect gets 90 days in jail in forgery case

SANDPOINT — A Kootenai woman accused of nearly destroying a Bonner County business through repeated forgeries was sentenced Tuesday to three months in jail.

Rachelle Lee Kidney pleaded guilty to a single count of forgery through a plea agreement negotiated with the state. In exchange for an admission of guilt, a felony theft charge was abandoned.

Kidney, who is about six months pregnant, will be granted a maternity furlough if she goes into labor while incarcerated, according to the terms of the sentence imposed by District Judge Steve Verby. If Kidney gives birth before her entire sentence is served, she will have to serve the balance of it six weeks after the baby is delivered.

Kidney, 24, allegedly forged checks to herself on Ponderay Home Center’s account while employed as the company’s business manager.

The real estate and rental company said the forgeries cost them upwards of $30,000, court records indicate.

Ponderay Home Center operators Bill and Michael Brown said Kidney’s conduct forced them to take out loans to cover their losses and keep the business from going under. Kidney’s scheme also took a heavy emotional toll because the Browns had treated her like a family member by helping her secure a home and property, and hiring her brother when nobody else would.

Kidney apologized for her conduct and explained that she believed she was owed the money after losing out on commissions she thought she deserved.

“I just took the wrong actions to collect. I should have just quit my job,” she said.

When Verby asked why she didn’t pursue a legal avenue in addressing her claims, Kidney said she needed the employment. Chief Deputy Public Defender Janet Whitney added that Kidney’s marriage was in trouble and the family was unable to cover its living expenses.

But Michael Brown testified that Kidney has managed to accumulate the trappings of the well-off. He said Kidney has personal watercraft, snowmobiles and four-wheelers.

“Those are things I don’t even own. I don’t have the money to buy Jet Skis, four-wheelers and snowmobiles,” Brown told Verby.

The scope of Kidney’s betrayal was in dispute at her sentencing hearing. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Louis Marshall said Kidney forged 20-30 checks over a six-month period last year. However, Whitney said she counted, at best, half that many forgeries.

The discrepancy in the number of incidents, combined with Kidney’s ability to pay back what she stole, effectively capped the restitution at $15,000, Marshall said. Bill Brown testified the written-off restitution amounted to an unjust reward for being a thief.

The state, defense and a presentence investigator recommended a suspended prison sentence largely because Kidney has no known criminal record and she cooperated with the investigation. Verby imposed a suspended prison term of two to four years and placed her on probation for six years.

But Verby adopted the state’s recommendation for 90 days in jail as opposed to the defense recommendation of 60 days.

“Oftentimes during sentencings, the focus is solely upon the individual who is being sentenced, but there are also victims whose lives have been dramatically affected. As in this case, there was a dramatic effect,” Verby said.