La Plata, MD – Some thefts are cut and dry as far as the legal system goes. Someone reaches into a cash register at a business and grabs cash, a liquor store window is smashed and items are stolen, or someone could break into a house while the occupants are at work and steal their valuables.

Then there is the other kind of theft, perpetrated deceitfully with the full trust of those who are prey to the thievery.

Such was the case Monday, Jan. 11 before Charles County Circuit Court Judge H. James West, who sentenced Nancy Lee Burch, 52 of King George, VA to five years after the woman stole over $100,000 from her former employers in Charles County.

“This is not someone who was down on her luck, suffering from disease, this was flat-out theft,” Charles County Assistant States Attorney Francis Granados said. “She stole essentially to live a good life. She bought a new house, she bought a new car, clothing. Ms. Burch ate out every day. Every meal was on the victim’s dime. To say she exploited the situation is an understatement.”

The victim in this case, Ann Knott Chapman, told the court she and her husband were not as interested in restitution as seeing that no one else is taken advantage of by the defendant, who had a prior record of having stolen from her employer.

“We are fortunate that we are able to continue our business,” Chapman said. “We just don’t understand how Ms. Burch could steal from us for two years. Her theft was deliberate and deceitful.”

Chapman said Burch covered her tracks well from August 2011 to January 2014 when the thefts were discovered.

“Mrs. Chapman had essentially done 99 percent of the work discovering the full scope of this theft,” Granados told the court. “She did this while struggling with stage four cancer.”

Granados said Burch prior theft was against the VFW Post in Bel Alton where she stole $18,000 from her employer. She got suspended time and probation in that case, he noted.

“She got leniency the first time,” Granados stated. “The Chapmans deserve their pound of flesh. They’re entitled to what they work for.”

Defense Attorney Edward Olmstead said that the victims had no doubt suffered from their loss, and said he was puzzled by his client’s actions.

“This case is like this puzzle you can’t put together because the pieces don’t make sense,” he said. “What I see is a 52-year-old woman who comes from a good family, with a long stable marriage, and yet there is this. I can’t quite figure out how you take this person who seems to have everything going for her and then there is this crime. It doesn’t make sense.”

Olmstead told the court his client disclosed to him that she was diagnosed bi-polar in 2002.

“I wish I had more,” he said. “I hope she gets the help she needs.”

“So many times I hear defendants say, ‘Nobody will give me a second chance,’” West said. “They gave you a second chance.”

West sentenced Burch to 20 years, but under the terms of a plea agreement, suspended all but five years and placed her on five years of supervised probation. He also ordered a mental evaluation and drug and alcohol treatment, and order that she pay $25,000 in restitution to Erie Insurance and $105,841.20 to the Chapmans.

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com