A 33-year-old Richmond woman has been sentenced to two years in prison for stealing thousands of dollars from two Lincoln County women in spring 2014.
The crimes include the theft of thousands of dollars from the former proprietor of the Miss Wiscasset Diner while the woman was working at the diner, according to a witness statement. The crimes forced the closure of the diner and “ruined” its proprietor.
Jessica L. Brillant, 33, pleaded guilty to three counts of class C theft by unauthorized taking and one count of class D misuse of identification in connection with the Lincoln County crimes Sept. 30, according to court documents. She received concurrent sentences of two years for each theft and six months for misuse of identification.
Brillant will serve the Lincoln County sentences concurrently with sentences for a number of similar crimes in Kennebec and Sagadahoc counties: one count of class B burglary, seven counts of class C negotiate a worthless instrument (check fraud), one count of class C theft by deception, four more counts of class C theft by unauthorized taking, and two counts of violation of condition of release, according to court documents and the Maine Department of Corrections.
The sentence for the burglary was eight years with all but 1 1/2 years suspended, plus three years of probation. If Brillant violates probation, she could return to prison for up to 6 1/2 years, the suspended portion of the sentence.
Brillant also has to pay a total of $5,611.41 in restitution, including $3,350 to the former diner owner, according to the prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Liberman.
Heather Pitcher opened the Miss Wiscasset Diner Feb. 3, 2014 and immediately hired Brillant because she had worked at the diner under its previous tenant, Pitcher said in a statement.
Brillant “was very helpful to me and I said many times that she was not my right hand, she was my whole arm,” Pitcher said.
Brillant set up and often manned the cash register. Soon after Pitcher opened the diner, Brillant told Pitcher the register was not working properly and could not print daily reports.
“My daily take was not what I thought it should be and I wasn’t making any headway,” Pitcher said. Brillant, however, would reassure her and tell her to be patient.
Later, Pitcher’s bank called to ask about some bad checks, although Pitcher knew she had a sufficient balance to cover all her purchases. A check was missing from her checkbook, however.
The bank located a copy of the check, which had been cashed – a $900 check payable to and endorsed by Brillant. Later the same day, the bank found another bad check for $600 – this time with a video of Brillant cashing the check.
Pitcher also found $1,850 missing from a deposit bag, bringing the total of the theft to $3,350. Pitcher said she believes Brillant stole thousands more, although she could not prove anything beyond the $3,350.
The theft eventually forced Pitcher to close the restaurant, but only after she spent her entire savings in an effort to keep it afloat. Brillant “ruined me financially,” Pitcher said.
Brillant also stole more than $1,000 from a Jefferson woman on May 1, 2014, according to her indictment. She committed misuse of identification on the same date, also in Jefferson.
Brillant “did intentionally or knowingly present or use a credit or debit card that was stolen, forged, cancelled, or obtained as a result of fraud or deception, in order to obtain confidential information, property, or services,” according to the indictment for the misuse of identification charge.
Court documents reveal little else about the Jefferson case.
Most of Brillant’s crimes outside the county shared a similar pattern, according to Liberman, the prosecutor.
“She was writing a large amount of checks on an account that was closed,” Liberman said.
“The amount of people who were victimized by her is pretty staggering, and I don’t know exactly what changed in her mind,” Liberman said. “She did have some previous convictions where she had fines imposed, but she had never done any jail time in the past and then she just went on a spree and victimized a whole bunch of people.”
Brillant didn’t limit the spree to businesses or strangers.
“She actually stole from a friend of hers who was kind enough to post bail for her on one of the charges, so it wasn’t just businesses, she, at times, victimized people that she was close to,” Liberman said.
Liberman said he hopes the prison sentence will give Brillant enough time to think about her actions and their impact on her victims, and that upon her release, “she will make good on the restitution she owes and stop this kind of conduct.”
Brillant is in custody at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, according to the Maine Department of Corrections.
