Two sisters have accepted a plea deal to settle charges of stealing from the child welfare agency they founded. But sentencing was postponed Monday because so many people turned up to testify on their behalf.
Elaine Bernard, 48, and Carol Dela Torre, 47, have pleaded no contest to theft charges and could face jail time. But many of those who came to their sentencing hearing in Fresno County Superior Court said the sisters should be shown mercy because of their commitment to helping children in need.
In all, about 80 people packed the standing-room-only courtroom. The sisters, who started the nonprofit social-service organization called Genesis, wiped away tears as their friends, family members and past Genesis clients took turns at the podium.
No one spoke against Bernard, who still serves as Genesis' chief executive officer, or Dela Torre, the agency's clinical director. Even the board members and attorney representing Genesis, which is technically the victim in this case, spoke in support of the sisters. More than 30 people submitted letters praising Bernard and Dela Torre.
"They took me in like their own, showing me what it was like to have a family," said Henry Montero, 17, who told Judge John Vogt that he lived with Bernard's family for several years. "[Bernard is] a great lady. She deserves the best. It's so hard to see this."
Bernard pleaded no contest to two felonies -- theft by embezzlement and tax evasion -- and Dela Torre pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of theft by embezzlement.
Prosecutors say the sisters stole more than $500,000 from Genesis, which has an $11 million annual budget and contracts with local government agencies to serve abused and neglected children. But the District Attorney's Office agreed in June to drop many other charges against the sisters in exchange for the sisters' no-contest pleas, bringing to an abrupt end what has become one of the longest and costliest cases in Fresno County history.
Bernard faces up to one year in jail. Dela Torre has a better chance of not being sentenced to jail because she pleaded to a misdemeanor. Both may lose their social-worker licenses.
Bernard's attorney, Douglas Foster, said this was the first time one of his client's sentencing hearings has taken more than a day. He said that no one disputes that the sisters misused Genesis' funds, but he was pleased so many people showed up to ask for mercy on the sisters' behalf.
"You had people who run in high-brow circles, everyday people, employees, former clients -- people from every economic spectrum and every racial spectrum," Foster said after court adjourned Monday.
Frances Dela Torre, the sisters' mother, broke down in tears in the courtroom as she described how she helped her daughters start Genesis in the late 1980s.
"You should have mercy on my daughters because we have done so much for this community," she said.
Many supporters criticized the District Attorney's Office, which filed charges against the sisters in 2002.
Bernard's boyfriend, Ken Steitz, a former Fresno City Council member, said that Bernard has suffered "6 1/2 years of hell."
"I've been there day and night," he said. "I've seen the pain and remorse, and the nightmares of the district attorney coming after her."
Judge Vogt, however, said prosecutors "did this as a function of their constitutional duties, and I'm not putting them on trial."
The judge spent much of the day asking Genesis' attorney, Linda Kollar, why the Genesis board did not discover the sisters' misuse of Genesis funds earlier.
"In this particular case, it seems there were no safeguards whatsoever," he said.
Kollar said the board had relied on annual audits, which she said didn't detect any fraud. She said nonprofit boards usually don't review day-to-day expenses. After Bernard and Dela Torre were charged with theft, however, the board instituted strict sanctions intended at preventing any future misuse of funds, Kollar said.
Bernard has repaid Genesis $132,434 and Dela Torre has repaid the agency $48,533. As part of the plea deal, Bernard will pay an additional $100,000 in restitution to Genesis.
Bernard makes $155,000 a year, and Dela Torre earns $145,000.
The case against the sisters began in late 2001 when two former employees told authorities that money earmarked for children in Genesis' care was being used to finance the defendants' shopping sprees and vacations.
The Genesis case turned out to be one of the most complex investigations in Fresno County's history, with documents filling 500 boxes. The case went to trial in 2007 but ended in a mistrial that May when jurors were split 11-1 in favor of finding the sisters guilty of theft, tax evasion and filing false state income taxes.
Prosecutors were about to retry the case when the sisters agreed to the plea deal.
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