It didn’t take a jury trial to decide whether a Faribault County part-time would be able to keep her job.
“She resigned last weekend,” says Chief Deputy Scott Adams. “She sent me a text and then followed up with a letter.”
A two-day trial was held April 18 and 19 in Nicollet County District Court and jurors found 34-year-old Trisha Lynn Westphal of Winnebago guilty on two felony theft charges.
Westphal was hired last October and observed two shifts, says Adams, before being charged on Nov. 12.
“She notified us of receiving information that theft charges were pending and knew that would affect any employment in law enforcement,” he says. “All training was stopped at that point.”
Westphal was accused of stealing an autographed football card worth $5,000 while she was a North Mankato FedEx employee.
A court complaint says the card was found for sale at a sports card retailer in the Twin Cities. The man who sold the card to the store told a North Mankato police officer that Westphal gave it to him.
In its verdict the jury says, “The state has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the sports card had a value of more than $1,000.”
Westphal was convicted of theft of movable property valued at $1,001 to $5,000 and theft by appropriation of found property valued at $1,001 t0 $5,000.
The court has ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set June 28 as the date for sentencing.