This article was written by James Jardine of The Caledonian Record, in which it was first published Aug. 6, 2013
A St. Johnsbury woman ended up with a deferred sentence after admitting scamming the CN Brown Company out of $943 in home heating oil by convincing company employees she was someone else.
Chrissie Jones, 31, of Washington, Vt., was originally charged with a felony charge of identity theft but got the charge dismissed as part of a plea deal. She entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of false pretense or false token of $900 or less.
According to the affidavit of St. Johnsbury police officer Lester Cleary, Georgia Greenwood, the manager at the CN Brown office located at the Big Apple service station on Portland Street, reported a suspected fraud that occurred on Oct. 31, 2011, in April 2012,.
Greenwood said a female came to the CN Brown office and identified herself as Thumperlee Marcy, 22, while setting up a fuel account. Greenwood told Cleary that because the fuel truck driver making the initial delivery for CN Brown was from out of the area, Greenwood accompanied the driver on Nov. 2, 2011, to the new customer’s address located at 144 Glenside Lane, Lot 310, in Sorrels’ Trailer Park, North Concord. The fuel truck driver stopped at the trailer and Greenwood got out and met the female who had set up the account on the porch. Greenwood asked the woman, “Are you Thumper?” to which the female replied “yes.” The woman then told Greenwood where the tank was located.
Greenwood provided St. Johnsbury police with a license plate number given by the person who set up the fuel account at the office. The license plate number was assigned to Chrissie Jones, 31, and Casey Jones of North Concord.
On March 9, CN Brown received a phone call from a man who said he was the “real” Thumper Marcy and that the person who opened the account was Chrissie Jones and she did not have permission to use his identity. At that point the bill had not been paid. On June 11, 2012, Cleary met with Greenwood at CN Brown and provided a series of photos as part of a photo lineup. Greenwood identified a picture of Chrissie Jones as the person who set up the account.
As Cleary’s investigation continued, he met with the real Thumper Marcy who said he and his girlfriend briefly stayed in a trailer located in Sorrel’s Trailer Park and occupied by Chrissie Jones and her husband Christy Jones. Thumper Marcy said he never offered to help pay for the heating oil and never authorized Chrissie Jones to set up an account in his name. Marcy received a bill from CN Brown in his mailbox for over $1,000 for heating oil and contacted the company.
Chrissie Jones was eventually charged with identity theft and false token. As part of a plea deal, the felony charge of identity theft was dismissed. She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of false pretenses. She was given a deferred sentence agreement and will be on probation for six months during which time she must complete 50 hours of community service and comply with conditions of probation. She is to repay $943.22 to CN Brown at the rate of $50 per month. If Jones complies with all of the conditions of her deferred sentence agreement, the record of her conviction will be expunged from her record and it will be as though she was never charged.
