A Denver judge delayed sentencing the wife of a man convicted of stealing $11 million from the Colorado Department of Revenue while a determination is made about whether she can serve her probation and pay $1 million in restitution from another state.
Judge Sheila Rappaport listened to more than an hour of testimony Friday from Trudy Randell’s parents, who asked that she be allowed to serve her probation in Florida instead of Colorado so that she would not be separated from her three children.
The children, ages 8, 5 and 2, are being cared for by their grandparents. Randell’s mother is battling breast cancer.
Randell pleaded guilty in November to a felony charge of theft by receiving. A new sentencing date was set for Oct. 30.
Her husband, Hysear Randell, was convicted last month of stealing the money with the help of his girlfriend, Michelle Cawthra, who was a supervisor at the Department of Revenue.
Cawthra testified during Hysear Randell’s trial that she manipulated tax and bank documents to funnel the money into Hysear Randell’s accounts over a two-year period. Prosecutors accused Trudy Randell of helping her husband open bank accounts to receive the money.
Deputy District Attorney Kandace Gerdes argued against Randell being allowed to go to Florida because of the difficulties supervising Randell and the restitution if she left Colorado.
Cawthra said she stole the money because she loved Hysear Randell and she wanted him to leave Trudy Randell for her. Trudy Randell’s father, Leroy Patterson, testified that his daughter was also manipulated by Hysear Randell.
“She has been duped and she has been abused,” Patterson said.
Attorney Gary Lozow argued that his client was conned by her husband and could never get the truth of his business transactions out of him.
“There were times in this case when Trudy wanted it to be right,” he said. “The more she pushed, the more she asked questions, the more he got himself out of town and got back in bed with Cawthra.”
Lozow asked the judge to let her stay in Florida, where she could work for her father in order to pay the state back.
In Colorado, “she has no roots, no parents and no money and she does not have the wherewithal to take care of herself,” he said.
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
