A Cle Elum man admitted stealing nearly $2,500 from Cashmere Valley Bank in a phony check scam and was sentenced in Kittitas County Superior Court after reaching a plea deal with prosectors. During a change-of-plea hearing Friday, Steven Paul Rowley pleaded guilty to second-degree theft as part of the plea agreement. His trial had been scheduled to start Aug.
27. Rowley was sentenced to serve a five-day sentence on electronic home monitoring — well short of a typical mid-range sentence of 30 days — because he swiftly paid back the stolen money after he was charged with a crime. During the hearing Aug.
16, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Patricia Todd said Rowley, 37, cashed a check that belonged to someone else. The amount of the transaction was $2,499.50.
But Todd also said Rowley quickly repaid the money, and with no felonies on his record, asked the judge for a five-day jail sentence, to be served on electronic home monitoring. Judge L. Candace Hooper reminded Rowley that the crime was a Class C felony with a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Rowley, however, was facing a standard sentencing range of up to 60 days in jail. “I can give you anywhere in that range. No matter what you guys have agreed to,” Hooper added.
“What is your plea, then, to theft in the second degree?” the judge asked the defendant. There was a brief pause. “It’s either guilty or not guilty,” Hooper reminded him.
“Guilty,” Rowley answered. Todd said the defendant did not have .