The former Rod Kelley Elementary School parent club treasurer found guilty of swindling more than $54,000 from the Gilroy school more than a decade ago will not be back in court Wednesday, as previously scheduled.
Instead, the probation violation hearing of Lori McVicar, 48, was continued to July 3 at the Hall of Justice in San Jose because her public defender Mary Steele is out of town. McVicar is due to appear at 9 a.m. in courtroom 29.
At that time, judge Rene Navarro will determine the consequences for McVicar, who is in violation of her probation terms for failing to continue making restitution payments to Rod Kelley.
McVicar could be sentenced to jail time; be given a new probation term and have her payments monitored by the court; or have her probation terminated altogether, according to Deputy District Attorney Kathy Storton.
“Her probation should not be terminated,” said Storton, who urged Rod Kelley supporters to continue writing letters to the court about the impact of McVicar’s actions. “She still owes a lot of money.”
McVicar, who was convicted in 2002 of grand theft and forgery, still owes Rod Kelly more than $15,000 of the $54,533.39 she stole by forging more than 16 checks intended for library books and playground equipment for Rod Kelley.
“We feel if we don’t keep on top of it and (the court) terminates her probation, there will be no recourse,” said Principal Luis Carrillo of Rod Kelley, who, along with parent club member Christine West, attended McVicar’s May 14 probation hearing in San Jose. “I don’t even know how we can keep tabs on her (if her probation is terminated).”
California Penal Code 1203.3 states that a judge has the discretion to order the early termination of probation “in the interests of justice.” However, McVicar has not yet successfully completed the terms of her probation, since she has failed to pay the restitution. A judge can still grant early termination if it is deemed that being on probation is causing a hardship such as preventing them from obtaining gainful employment, according to the penal code.
In 2007, McVicar submitted her own payment plan to the court. She appeared in court in May because she violated her probation a second time by failing to comply with that restitution payment plan. She is supposed to make monthly payments at increased increments until the total balance is paid off.
But that hasn’t happened, Storton said.
Since being deemed in violation by the Department of Probation, McVicar did make a $310 payment on April 2. The payments are supposed to be made to the Santa Clara County Department of Revenue, which in turn disperses the validated funds back to Rod Kelley.
McVicar was expected to pay a total of $2,485 in monthly payments beginning September 18, 2012 and has only made $1,125, falling behind by $1,360, according to the DA’s office.
When McVicar appeared in court back in July 2007, she made a $3,200 payment – her largest since giving back roughly $24,000 of the sum after being convicted. When she submitted her payment plan, she was expected to pay $100 per month through 2007, then $150 per month until mid-2008, then $200 per month until September 2008, where she would finish out paying the total sum with $280 payments until there was a zero balance.
