The former manager of the Waldoboro branch of Camden National Bank who pleaded guilty earlier this year to embezzling nearly $750,000 from bank customers has filed a notice that she intends to appeal her sentence.
Christina Torres-York, 40, of Warren, pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement and misapplication of funds on Jan. 11 in US District Court in Portland. A judge sentenced her to 33 months in federal prison and $625,013.29 in restitution.
On July 12, Torres-York filed a notice of appeal with the US District Court in Portland. The appeal process began in the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston on July 21.
Court officials in Boston said the process is likely to take until the end of the year.
Torres-York’s court-appointed attorney, Kathleen Hill of Boston, has until Sept. 19 to file the defense’s grounds for appeal with the court. In the months that follow, the US Attorney’s Office and defense will file several arguments with the court. A judge will then review the filings and either decide the case on paper or request to hear oral arguments, court officials said.
Torres-York’s plea, while it was not part of a formal plea bargain, included the condition that she waive her right to appeal so long as she received no more than 33 months in prison.
Although the US Attorney’s Office declined to comment on specifics of this case until Torres-York files her grounds for appeal with the court, First Assistant US Attorney Rick Murphy, who prosecuted Torres-York, said defendants may question the enforceability of any appeal waiver. Murphy is not handling Torres-York’s appeal for the US Attorney’s Office.
“I’m certainly not going to say that in these specific circumstances her waiver isn’t enforceable,” Murphy said. “We will wait and see what the issues she raises are and respond to them appropriately.”
One argument the US Attorney’s Office might make in opposing her appeal is that Torres-York waived her right to appeal, Murphy said.
