Juan Medina

Stealing nearly $2,000 in cash from his Powell employer has landed a local resident on supervised probation for the next two years.

Juan J. Medina apologized for his actions at a Wednesday hearing in Park County District Court and thanked presiding Judge Bill Simpson for the chance at probation.

“I know I made a big mistake,” Medina said.

Charging documents say Medina stole $1,999.23 from the Super 8 hotel, where he was employed. The money stolen from the lock box represented the cash the business had received between Nov. 14 and Dec. 19, police found. The crime was discovered on Dec. 20, when the lock box was opened and found to be “completely empty.”

A subsequent review of security camera footage showed Medina “picking up the lock box, turning it upside down and shaking the contents out like he was getting money out of a piggy bank” on multiple occasions, Powell Police Officer Paul Sapp wrote in an affidavit.

A warrant for Medina’s arrest was issued Jan. 17 and he turned himself in at the Park County Law Enforcement Center on Feb. 13. He spent 60 days in jail before making bail.

At last week’s hearing, Medina pleaded guilty to a felony count of theft totaling $1,000 or more. He received credit for the two months he’s already served in jail, with an 18- to 24-month prison sentence suspended in favor of probation.

Simpson warned Medina that he’ll go to prison if he violates the terms of his probation and comes back before the court.

His conditions include requirements to obey the law and staying away from the Super 8’s owners and a former coworker. At the time of the thefts, both the hotel’s owner and the coworker told police that Medina had made threats, including to burn the business down.

While the hotel’s owner wasn’t present for the hearing, Medina apologized to him, saying the man had been a good friend and that he and his family had treated Medina with kindness.

“... I really screwed up,” Medina said.

The sentence was the result of a plea deal, but Simpson added requirements that Medina stay away from alcohol and bars while on probation.

“My experience has been that nothing really good comes out of a bar,” the judge said.

He had expressed some “real reservations” about the overall sentence, citing Medina’s criminal history.

Medina told the court he’d been convicted of burglary in California more than two decades ago and served about 22 months of prison time for the felony. Since moving to Wyoming around 2002, Medina said he’d received some misdemeanor convictions, including one for theft. Court records show a 2015 case stemming from allegations that Medina stole $2,870 from the cash register of a Cheyenne business he’d been hired to clean. The Laramie County charge started out as a felony before being reduced to a misdemeanor; Medina served about two months in jail.

“Your record would indicate that you haven’t learned from the past,” Simpson said earlier in the hearing. “I hope you’ll learn from this.”

Medina said he’s motivated to do the right going forward for the sake of his teenage child. Further, during his recent stint in jail, “I had my car and everything [I owned] stolen from me, so I know what it’s like now,” Medina said, adding, “it doesn’t feel good.”

Simpson told the defendant to find a way to resist the temptation to steal in the future.

“I won’t let you down,” Medina pledged.

He indicated that he had a job lined up at another hotel and that he’ll begin making payments next month toward the $1,999.23 in restitution and $200 in court fees and assessments.

Medina said he’s still owed wages from the Super 8, but Simpson said that wasn’t something he could address.