(Stillwater, Okla.) — A former housekeeper who has a criminal record has been given four concurrent 10-year prison terms for stealing $2,300 worth of jewelry from two elderly Stillwater women and pawning their property.
Becky Sue Peters, 54, of Perry, pleaded guilty last week to two counts of exploitation of an elderly person and two counts of false declaration of ownership in pawn, all after a former felony conviction.
Because Peters has three prior felony convictions, she could have received as much as four life prison terms if her plea bargain had not been approved in court Friday, records show.
Peters, who remains in the Payne County Jail, was ordered by Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler to return to court on June 19 for a determination of the amount of restitution she owes.
Peters formerly worked for the Merry Maids housekeeping service, court records show.
In court Friday, Peters admitted stealing two class rings and a gold medallion, with a total value of $800, from a client for whom she was providing housekeeping services and pawning the jewelry on Jan. 31 in Stillwater.
Peters also admitted stealing a $1,500 cocktail ring from an 86-year-old client for whom she was providing housekeeping services and pawning it on Jan. 29 in Stillwater.
According to Payne County court records, Peters had been convicted in 2013 of three counts of second-degree forgery in Stillwater, for which she was initially placed on seven years’ probation except 120 days in jail, with an order to pay $4,533 restitution.
Peters had also been convicted in 2013 of committing a pattern of criminal offenses in Stillwater by making fraudulent ATM withdrawals on a Perry man’s card, for which she was also initially placed on seven years’ probation except 120 days in jail, with an order to pay $2,596 restitution in that case.
Peters had also been convicted in 2013 of second-degree forgery in Stillwater for passing a $2,000 check in Stillwater that had been stolen from a resident’s room at the Renaissance Assisted Living Center where she had previously worked, for which she was also initially placed on seven years’ probation except 120 days in jail, with an order to pay $2,000 restitution in that case.
In all three of her prior felony convictions, Peters was found eight months later to have violated her probation, for which she was ordered to spend 180 days in jail with credit for time served, court records show.
She had been out of jail for about six weeks before committing the crimes for which she was sentenced to prison on Friday, court records show.
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