CHARLEVOIX -- Karla Sue Lockman will stay behind prison bars until at least September 2011.
The Michigan Court of Appeals this week denied an appeal to Lockman's sentence, which upholds Charlevoix Circuit Court Judge Richard Pajtas' decision to send her to prison well beyond the recommended maximum 17 months. She received two concurrent sentences of five to 10 years and is held at a state women's prison in Ypsilanti.
Lockman, 37, of Boyne City, was convicted in 2006 of embezzling more than $859,000 from her employer, Northern Preferred Title Co. in Charlevoix County. That bankrupted the business and threw more than a dozen workers from three offices into the ranks of the unemployed.
The trial court legally was correct to hike the sentence, based on the amount stolen and the devastating effect on others, ruled Michigan Appellate Judges Alton Davis, William Murphy and Helene White.
The judges described how the large amount of stolen money "keenly attracts and irresistibly holds this court's attention. This is an exceptional case," they wrote.
"I'm pleased to be upheld and to have followed the law correctly," Pajtas said.
The appeal was based on the constitutionality of a maximum sentence that's more than seven times the standard, said State Appellate Defender Christine Pagac, who represented Lockman.
"Who wouldn't appeal that?" she said.
Others said the long sentence is justified.
"It's a devastating case that will affect people for years to come," said Rusty Hills, spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, which argued the punishment fit the crime.
Lockman was ordered in December to pay full restitution and still owes nearly $493,000 after more than $366,000 was collected when her assets were sold at auction.
Meanwhile, there's a pending criminal investigation into Lockman's husband, Kevin Lockman, a former conservation officer for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He is accused of knowingly spending stolen money to retain a lawyer for his wife when she was under investigation by the Boyne City Police Department.
Special Prosecutor Charles Koop from Antrim County is reviewing the case this week and has not yet decided whether to charge Kevin Lockman, he said.
Kevin Lockman, 35, was fired from the DNR for misconduct and is set for an arbitration hearing in April in an attempt to get his state job back, officials said.
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