GOLDEN — A former worker at an assisted-living facility in Wheat Ridge was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison for stealing a wedding ring from the hand of an elderly disabled woman.
Ebony Michelle Butler, 23, of Arvada pleaded guilty in September to theft and providing false information to a pawnbroker.
Butler was scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 25 but didn’t appear. A warrant was issued for her arrest.
On Thursday, Judge Jack Berryhill told Butler that he would reconsider her sentence, which also includes an 18-month concurrent prison term on the pawnbroker charge, if she successfully completes a boot-camp program while in prison.
Butler was a caregiver for Jean Mayer at Spring Ridge Park in Wheat Ridge. Russell Mayer, Jean’s husband of 60 years, noticed the diamond ring Jean had worn for 35 years was missing from her hand one Sunday when he picked her up to take her to church.
Jean Mayer was severely disabled with stage-four Alzheimer’s disease. She died six months after the ring was stolen.
