ASPEN, Colo.–A former CU employee who stole nearly $60,000 from member accounts in 2013—including from accounts belonging to the mayors of Aspen and Marble, Colo.–has been sentenced to over three years in a halfway house.
The reasons for the delay in the sentencing of Jessica Sorensen are several, including her probation being revoked only four days away from completing a 60-day jail sentence imposed in 2014 after she pleaded guilty to three felony theft counts after being caught trying to sneak vodka into jail using a water bottle. Sorensen had been serving the sentence through day reporting, which allows a person to leave jail for work and return in the evening.
According to prosecutor Andrea Bryan, four days before being sentenced for that, and resentenced for the theft charges, Sorensen was arrested for check fraud in a separate case, which is currently pending. After receiving an Aspen judge’s permission to go to California for substance abuse and mental health treatment, Sorensen failed to return for sentencing, and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
Prosecutors have objected to the sentencing in the credit union crime, saying Sorensen has yet to pay any restitution, in addition to having violated probation on several occasions.
In that credit union case, Sorensen forged signatures of members of the Grand Junction FCU branch; switched money back and forth into accounts to make it appear she hadn’t taken the funds; and made a loan to herself. That allowed her to pilfer nearly $22,000 from former Marble mayor John Petrocco and over $11,000 from Mick Ireland, former mayor of Aspen according to prosecutors.
Sorenson told the court that she is “remorseful.”