Toledo pair get prison for thefts from homes they were cleaning
5/24/2012When Bruce Pompili and Brittany LaFountaine took items from the homes they were supposed to be cleaning, they not only stole the owners' heirlooms but also their trust, a judge in Lucas County Common Pleas Court said.
"You can pay all the restitution you want but you can't replace what you took," Judge James Jensen said. "… You just kept going on and on and on. There were 10 offenses for which you were convicted, and others that you agreed to pay restitution on that you weren't convicted on."
The judge then sentenced LaFountaine, 23, to 18 months in prison and Pompili, 23, to four years behind bars and ordered restitution to the victims totaling $48,974.58.
The couple, both of 2225 Mellwood Ave., were found guilty last month after each pleaded no contest to 10 counts of theft, grand theft, and theft from the elderly. Authorities said the two were employed by a house-cleaning service owned by Pompili's mother, and from June 1 through July 29, 2011, they took items from several homes they were assigned to clean. In all, the pair stole from 14 victims in Sylvania, Sylvania Township, Toledo, and Whitehouse.
Both apologized for their actions and said they took the items to pay for drug habits. The victims, some of them elderly, did not speak in court as part of the sentencing hearing.