Woman charged in Girl Scout cookie theft
MALCOMB DANIELS
News staff writer
A Shelby County woman with a history of writing bad checks has been charged with theft of $4,848 in Girl Scout cookies.
The Shelby County Sheriff's Department charged Doris LeAnn Taylor, 33, of the Shelby community with one count of theft by deception, Sheriff Chris Curry said Thursday.
Taylor, a Girl Scout cookie mom, is accused of ordering 3,020 boxes of cookies and then failing to return either money or cookies to the Girl Scouts of Cahaba Council, which serves seven counties. Cookie moms are mothers who take responsibility for supervising sales by a group of Scouts. [...]
Ruby Cox's daughter sold some of the cookies that earned money Taylor is accused of keeping.
"To lie to innocent people is wrong, but to steal from the Girl Scouts is ungodly," Cox said.
According to court records, Taylor pleaded guilty in more than a dozen cases of writing bad checks in Jefferson County, dating to 2001. She also faces eight bad check charges in Shelby County.
Marjorie Davis-Stephan, spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of Cahaba Council, said the information Taylor provided on a form required to become a cookie mom didn't raise any red flags. [...]
I bet there'll be one from now on.
The Shelby County District Attorney's Office plans to prosecute Taylor's case, said Bill Bostick, chief assistant district attorney.
Taylor was released from jail on a $20,000 bond. If convicted, she could face a sentence of two to 20 years in prison. Attempts to locate Taylor for comment were unsuccessful.
As a very wise man once said to me, "It takes all sorts, but you wonder why there are so many of that sort."
Posted by Terry Oglesby at April 8, 2005 11:10 AMSome questions:
1) Who put this woman in charge of anything financial?
2) What kinds of cookies did she get?
3) What on earth did she do with 3,000 boxes of cookies?
4) Doesn't she know it's only two weeks till passover and the cookies need to be gone by then?
I looked in the article for any reference to a marsupial accomplice.
Mr. SkinnyDan—you can sell me the cookies. I’m too far away to try and take possession.
Some answers-
1) Not me.
2) I imagine is was a nice assortment of each kind offered. But I don't know.
3) Went on a sugar-induced check-bouncing frenzy?
4) Probably she does. Wanna buy some?
And no, I'm not involved in this. Other than having to fork over money every year to the kid at church we buy from.
Posted by: Terry O. at April 8, 2005 11:51 AMIt takes a really bright person to choose PERISHABLE items to steal.
Let's not forget my ex-boyfriend, who stole from the Salvation Army by switching a cheaper price tag onto the item he wanted to purchase. He's probably dating good ol' Doris.
Posted by: sugarmama at April 8, 2005 11:59 AMAnd it would serve him right.
Posted by: Terry O. at April 8, 2005 12:03 PMDidn't somebody just have a big mu-nu grand opening, with refreshments served?
Guess you are somewhat fortunate in not having to go through the Girl Scout chaos known as cookie season. The Cub Scouts had their popcorn drive about 2 months ago. We just hit on our family and others who felt led to reciprocate our buying junk from their kids.
Posted by: MarcV at April 8, 2005 01:35 PMSay--what are you trying to say, there, Marc? Jimmie Neil said he bought those five hundred boxes of cookies fair and square!
As for fundraisers, our schools send home a fundraiser a week, it seems like. I'm going to start sending out my own if they aren't careful.
Posted by: Terry O. at April 8, 2005 02:11 PMI did say "somewhat fortunate" - those school shake-downs should be outlawed.
I suppose Jimmie Neil can't come up with a receipt - probably went up in smoke.
Posted by: MarcV at April 8, 2005 02:32 PMI think he probably paid for them with a bad check.
Posted by: Terry O. at April 8, 2005 03:08 PMSounds like she let the troop go ahead and sell the cookies and then they turned in the dough to her, assuming she'd turn it in in turn. Got that?
Posted by: Lenise at April 8, 2005 04:37 PMI think she did that, and then also just requested a bunch for herself to sell and pocket the money at her leisure. What I can't figure out is how she ever though she would get away with this.
Posted by: Terry O at April 9, 2005 10:53 AM