Woman sentenced for Yoke's thefts

SANDPOINT — A former Yoke’s Fresh Market bookkeeper accused of stealing from the grocery store pleaded guilty last week to a reduced theft charge and was ordered to serve five days in jail.

Barbara Lea Rosteck, 56, had no comment Dec. 3 before Bonner County Magistrate Court Judge Lori Meulenberg imposed the sentence, court records show.

The Bonner County resident was originally charged with grand theft, but the charge was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor upon payment of more than $3,000 in restitution.

Rosteck was accused of committing the thefts from late 2012 until last June. She allegedly admitted taking cigarettes, batteries, toiletries and miscellaneous food items. She was further accused of redeeming coupons with accompanying purchases.

Rosteck’s defense counsel, Sandpoint attorney Bryce Powell, told the court that his client slipped into a major depression in the year leading up to the thefts, according to court documents.

Powell said the depression was triggered the loss of her husband’s job and the loss of a close friend to cancer. Those events, coupled with Rosteck’s growing frustration with store management, caused Rosteck to do things that were out of character for the 30-year Yoke’s employee.

Meulenberg imposed a $1,000 with $500 suspended and ordered her to pay $3,022 in restitution. Rosteck was given credit for two days in jail, ordered to serve five more and perform 80 hours of work on the sheriff’s labor program.

Rosteck was also placed on probation for two years.