Court vacates woman’s sentence in lottery case

CENTRALIA — The Washington State Court of Appeals says a Toledo woman’s four-year sentence for stealing thousands of lottery tickets from her employer is too harsh.

The court vacated Katrina Bowen’s sentence after deciding the lower court abused its discretion, The Chronicle newspaper in Centralia reported Friday.

The court said Bowen’s sentence was far longer than it should have been.

“Bowen’s 48-month sentence was grossly disproportionate to the standard range sentence of zero to three months,” Appeals Court Judge Thomas J. Bjorgen wrote in an opinion filed late last month.

Bowen, 37, pleaded guilty in March 2014 to stealing about 500 lottery tickets per shift over about nine months at the Flying K gas station in Toledo.

She also admitted that her crime was “a major economic offense” because she stole much more than the amount typical for first-degree theft, defined as theft greater than $5,000.

Because of the major economic offense, the lower court could impose a longer sentence.

Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey sentenced Bowen to four years. The Lewis County prosecutor’s office had asked for two years.

A new sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. Officials said the prosecutor’s office must first receive a mandate from the Court of Appeals, a process that can take up to 60 days.