A woman from Oregon City, USA charged with stealing from her employer was placed on five years probation and ordered to pay back the $223,000 she stole.

The judge refused to give Christine Jaeger a prison sentence after being sympathetic to her argument that her prescribed medication was to blame for her gambling habit.

Clackamas County Judge Kathie Steele said, “The substances she was ingesting diminished her mental capacity in some fashion.  The breach of trust and multiple criminal episodes can all be laid to the drug issue.”

Jaeger was taking Mirapex for her restless-leg syndrome.  The drug is mainly taken by Parkinson’s Disease patients, and we have reported its side-effect of problem gambling in previous ukgamblingonline articles.

Jaeger’s defence lawyer, Katherine Weber highlighted the fact that Mirapex has been the subject of several pending civil suits by patients who have experienced addictive behaviour by taking the drug such as problem gambling.

To back up her point, Weber played a YouTube video of an ad by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals urging patients to tell their doctors if they experience “increased gambling, sexual or other intense urges.”

After being prescribed Mirapex, Jaeger became a regular punter at Spirit Mountain Casino, where she gambled and lost large sums of money.  

She worked as a bookkeeper for Langdon Farms Golf Club where she wrote a series of cheques for herself to feed her gambling addiction. She was eventually charged with aggravated theft.

The 56 year-old is sorry for what she had done and is determined to turn her life around.

She told the court, “I would like to say how sorry I am for what happened.  I will carry deep regret for the rest of my life.  And now, restitution is my primary goal.”

Prosecutor Bryan Brock recognised that Jaeger’s prescribed drugs might have caused her gambling problems.  He did, however, add that it probably didn’t cause her to forget that stealing is wrong.  Jaeger was also taking Topomax for her migraines and chronic pain.  A pharmacological expert told the court that Topomax can effect judgement, but its effects usually go away when the patient stops taking the drug.

Jaeger’s employer, Chris Maletis, Langdon Farm’s co-owner said she didn’t attempt to hide her thefts.  He was sympathetic to her and put the blame on himself for not monitoring the business more intensely.  He also added he would still employ her.

“Her intent probably was to repay it.  But she just got deeper and deeper into it.  Prison or no prison, she is going to suffer a lot now,” commented Maletis.

 

Print version