[MSN] Greeley woman stole library books, sold them to Hastings.

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Greeley woman stole library books, sold them to Hastings

  
Rebecca Boyle, (Bio) rboyle at greeleytribune.com
July 12, 2006

A Greeley woman who stole or helped steal hundreds of books from the Weld
Library District and sold them back to a used bookstore will spend three
years on intensive probation.

Sara Jane Gutierrez, 20, was sentenced Monday and will also spend 120 hours
doing community service. She pleaded guilty to theft and forgery in May.

In January, the Weld Library District told Greeley police they suspected
someone was using fake names to check out about 800 books.

A Greeley police detective identified Gutierrez as a suspect, and she
admitted obtaining library cards under different names. She would use
magazines or pieces of mail to get someone's name and address, and apply for
a card under that name, according to her arrest affidavit.

In the end, Gutierrez either used or helped others use 17 different names to
check out the 800-odd books, which the library district estimated were worth
$30,000.

Gutierrez herself admitted to using 10 names to sell back 100 books, worth
about $8,500.

She sold the books back to Hastings Books, Music & Video, at 3015 23rd Ave.,
in Greeley. A Hastings store manager would not allow his name to be used for
comment about the store's book buyback program.

Hastings confirmed for police that Gutierrez sold a large number of books to
the store.

Greeley police have a warrant for a co-defendant, David Michael Garcia, 24,
who Gutierrez told police was her boyfriend. The two would use bleach and
glue to "clean" the library books so they could be sold to Hastings,
according to Garcia's warrant.

Deputy District Attorney Matt Maillaro said Gutierrez was part of an
apparent ring of people who fraudulently checked out the books and sold them
back.

"She kept the money or split the money with these folks," Maillaro said.

When she showed up for an evaluation by the probation department, Gutierrez
tested positive for meth and marijuana use, though she denied that in court
Monday. Gutierrez is also pregnant.

She will have to complete parenting classes, substance abuse treatment and a
mental health evaluation as part of her sentence.

Prosecutors haven't determined how much they will seek in restitution for
the library district.

http://www.greeleytrib.com/