On Feb. 14, 2018, a former Keene State College student and former treasurer of Delta Xi Phi pleaded guilty and received a suspended sentenced for theft against the sorority.
Bridgette Lord was sentenced to the House of Corrections for 12 months, but Lord’s sentence will be postponed for one year under the condition that Lord complete 40 hours of community service within a six-month period. Once completed, Lord’s sentence will be suspended for three years.
On Jan. 22, 2018, the Grand Jurors for the State of New Hampshire presented that Lord did commit theft of unauthorized taking, which is a Class A felony, according to the Cheshire Superior Court Indictment.
However, Lord’s plea deal included the prosecutors removing her felony charge. Keene Sentinel reporter Paul Cuno-Booth wrote, “Judge David W. Ruoff said the sentence was light given that the case involved ‘a lot of money, repeated conduct, a breach of trust.’ But he said letters filed on Lord’s behalf and her cooperation with police helped convince him jail time was not needed in this case.” Cuno-Booth also reported Assistant Cheshire County Attorney John Webb mentioned her young age, her cooperation with the police, her regret and her consequential leave from KSC as contributing factors to the plea agreement.
Lord was also placed on probation for two years. The original sentence also included terms for payment of restitution which was made in the amount of $6,757.64 to Delta Xi Phi and it was, therefore, removed from the sentence.
In November, Bridgette Lord was charged for “theft of unauthorized taking” of over $1,501 from the dues submitted by members of Delta Xi Phi, according to a Superior Court Complaint document.
Also in November, The Equinox reported Officer Matthew Bomberg calculated the total of missing members’ dues to be $1,114 from the fall 2016 semester and $4,340 from the spring 2017 semester.
Coordinator of Fraternity & Sorority Life and Student Leadship Brandon Mathieu was unable to comment.
According to House of Corrections Sentence document, Ruoff holds the ability to “impose or terminate the sentence or to suspend or further defer the sentence for an additional period of three years.”
Because of the severity of Lord’s charges, if she is caught stealing again, she will be automatically charged for a class A felony.
After the first year, Lord will be able to petition to have the sentence suspended.
Lord’s Attorney Richard Guerriero said, “At the hearing she apologized to members of the sorority who were in attendance.”
During Lord’s parole, she is allowed to belong to clubs or non-profits, as long as she does not hold a position that includes financial responsibilities.
Lord did not respond for comment.
Sebastien Mehegan can be contacted at smehegan@kscequinox.com
