Ex-court clerk given probation in ID theft

Thursday, April 28, 2005 | 9:31 a.m.

A 37-year-old clerk at Las Vegas Municipal Court who used the identity of a Metro Police sergeant's wife to steal from a department store was sentenced to probation on Wednesday.

Stephanie Stevenson previously pleaded guilty to one count of attempted theft as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. She was originally charged with possession of credit or debit card without cardholder's consent.

District Judge David Wall sentenced Stevenson to 18 months' probation and issued an underlying sentence of nine months in prison.

A representative of the Las Vegas Human Resources Department said Stevenson resigned from her position on Dec. 9, the same day as her arrest. Because her job had involved processing of payment information for citizens settling traffic tickets and warrants, she had access to personal checks, cashier's checks and credit card numbers.

According to police, Clark County Health District Employee Susan Donegan, who also worked at Dillard's department store, passed along information on people with lines of credit at the store to Stevenson, who was reportedly having money problems.

Donegan would then create a health card bearing the victim's name and address and Stevenson's photograph, police said.

Stevenson used the health cards as photo identification and the stolen credit card numbers to buy $864 worth of merchandise and gift cards at Dillard's on Dec. 9. One of her victims, Cheryl Fricker, is married to Sgt. Eric Fricker of Metro's Downtown Area Command.