House arrest for former Welland CIBC employee

A Niagara woman told a local judge the power of a mother’s love for their child drove her to steal $66,000 from the Welland bank she had worked at for almost 30 years.

Deborah Bartolini told Judge Tory Colvin she swindled the cash from the CIBC branch she worked at after learning her son had found himself in “hot water” and in need of cash.

“I’m very sorry for this,” the 63-year- old said Wednesday in Ontario Court of Justice in Welland. “I am very sorry to the bank and I am very sorry to my loved ones.”

Defence counsel Rob MacDonald said his client did not benefit from the stolen funds, rather she transferred the cash to her son.

“This is not a woman who was motivated by greed,” he said.

At her sentencing hearing on charges of theft over $ 5,000 and laundering the proceeds of crime, the grandmother was given a two-year conditional sentence to be served in the community as opposed to behind bars.

She will be under house arrest for the first eight months of her sentence.

Bartolini was also ordered to pay $1,000 per month towards restitution.

Assistant Crown attorney Robert Mahler said crimes that involve a breach of trust typically warrant a jail term but a conditional sentence was appropriate due to the woman’s health issues.

An art that is hundreds of years old is still a new concept to some people.

Drystoning.

The Upper Canada Drystone Festival, a fundraiser for Red Roof Retreat and Kidsport Niagara, will take place Friday and Saturday.

The event is looking for participants, and also members of the public who want to stop by and make a donation, or enjoy Richard’s Rockin’ Ribfest on Friday night at Red Roof on Concession Six in Niagara-onthe-Lake.

Perry Hartwick, from Kidsport Ni-