Woman pleads guilty to jewelry theft

By Alison James

alison.james@fct.wpengine.com

Monday saw a jury selection ended before it began as an alleged jewelry thief changed her plea.

Lisa Winsted, 45, of Russellville, was originally indicted for third-degree burglary and first-degree theft of property by the May 2012 grand jury following incidents that occurred in December 2011.

“She cleaned different individuals’ houses, and multiple items of high dollar jewelry came up missing from these houses,” Rushing said.

Trial was set for Aug. 17.

“On the day of trial, she changed her plea from not guilty to guilty and decided to take responsibility,” said district attorney Joey Rushing.

Winsted entered what is known as a “best-interest plea,” guilty to the first-degree theft.

“Even though she maintains she didn’t do it, for the court’s purpose, she is pleading guilty because she knew the evidence was strong enough to convict her,” Rushing said.

Also indicted at the time of Winsted’s indictment was Amy Renne Fretwell of Russellville, who was charged with first-degree receiving stolen property and first-degree theft of property. Fretwell implicated Winsted and was set to testify against her at trial, which Rushing said probably contributed to her decision to plead guilty, along with the fact that a number of jewelry store employees, to whom Winsted tried to sell stolen jewelry, were prepared to identify her.

Winsted’s crime is a Class B felony, which includes a 42-month suspended sentence and five years probation, along with a requirement to pay restitution to the victims.

“Any time you can hold the person responsible for what they did, get them sentenced pursuant to whatever the guidelines say, and they are responsible for full restitution, that’s what the victims wanted in the case, and that’s what we wanted in the case,” Rushing said.