Ashley Renee Hutching
Leonardtown, MD — A Leonardtown woman has been sentenced to 18 months in jail after pleading guilty to one count of forgery and counterfeiting. Ashley Hutching, 32, was sentenced Jan. 8 to eight years in jail but Circuit Court Judge Michael Stamm suspended all but 18 months of that. Hutching will do her time in the St. Mary’s County Detention Center.
Hutching was originally charged with nine counts of forgery and counterfeit-private documents and separate counts of theft scheme ($1,000 to under $10,000) and theft ($1,000 to under $10,000). All of the remaining counts were dismissed as the result of the guilty plea to the one count.
According to charging documents filed in the case, in October of 2014, Hutching and a co-defendant stole checks belonging to a man who owned the home in which they were house-sitting at the time while he was working out of state. The state alleges that Hutching stole nine checks and wrote amounts totaling $940 to herself and cashed them.
The co-defendant, Brenda Grimes of Leonardtown, allegedly wrote three checks. Total amount stolen by the two was $1,270. Grimes was sentenced to four years in jail in 2012 for drug distribution and has a probation violation hearing scheduled for Feb. 1 in connection with the forgery and counterfeiting charges.
Judge Stamm authorized Hutching to seek drug counseling while incarcerated and will give her credit for time served in any program if she completes it. He also gave her credit for the 153 days she has been incarcerated awaiting sentencing.
Hutching was represented at the sentencing hearing by public defender Kevin Hill. Assistant State’s Attorney Buffy Giddens handled the case for the state.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com