At various points on Monday, Park County District Court Judge Bill Simpson expressed frustration with the plea deal he was being asked to approve.

The agreement called for Julia “Julie” Harvey to avoid jail time and to instead serve three years of probation and repay the $193,000 she stole from Rocky Mountain Discount Liquor and Lounge from early 2021 to early 2024.

However, based on the information before the court, Simpson said the owners of the Cody business would be lucky to recover even half of those losses from Harvey, the store’s longtime manager. And that, the judge said, posed a dilemma.

“Because she’s going to admit, pursuant to the plea agreement, that she stole the money, and then she admits she can’t pay it back, and then she wants probation,” Simpson said, suggesting other judges would likely reject the deal.

However, after hearing that the store’s owners had also reluctantly agreed to the arrangement, he ultimately accepted it.

“Sometimes the law can only do so much,” Simpson said, “and this may be one of those cases.”

Stealing from games

Harvey, 62, managed the Cody liquor store for nearly 20 years. After her termination in February 2024, however, the store’s owners discovered that she’d been pocketing a portion of the profits from their slot machine-like video games.

A review and audit concluded that nearly two-thirds of the cash that Rocky Mountain Discount was supposed to have received from the machines — $193,267 out of $301,218 — had gone missing during the three-year period. Harvey was quickly identified as the suspect and, following a Cody police investigation, was charged in July with four felony counts of theft. She turned herself in and was released on a $250 cash bond later in the day.

As part of her deal with the Park County Attorney’s Office, Harvey pleaded “no contest” to one of the counts in exchange for the dismissal of the other three.

Brandon McArtor, who owns the store with his wife Kelly, described the former manager’s actions as deceitful, dishonest and manipulative.

“Julie [Harvey] took advantage of the trust that was given to her,” he said.

McArtor’s father Jim, who previously owned the store, said the theft was a hardship for the business and its employees.

Harvey initially declined to make a statement at Monday’s sentencing, but after prompting from the judge, she offered an apology.

“I am very sorry for any funds that are missing and everything that they believe that I did and that I did do,” Harvey said. “I’m very apologetic for all of it.”

Harvey, who had no prior criminal record, said she didn’t know why she took the money from the store.

A six-figure retirement

Despite stealing a substantial amount of cash, Harvey’s defense attorney Rives White indicated last year that his client had limited resources; he said in July that Harvey had “sold her vehicle to eat.”

On Monday, Harvey said her only income is a $1,600 monthly payment from Social Security and that medical issues have left her unable to work.

As part of the plea deal, Harvey agreed to pay $25,000 in restitution to the McArtors at the time of sentencing. With her consent, Simpson upped the figure to $26,500 on Monday after waiving a $1,500 fine.

The cash is actually coming from Harvey’s retirement account at Rocky Mountain Discount Liquor, she said. As part of the company’s profit-sharing plan, Harvey was entitled to and received $132,287.14 earlier this year, McArtor said.

Harvey used the bulk of those funds to pay off some “massive” bills, she said, including credit card debt and a vehicle loan. That didn’t sit well with Simpson, who noted this week’s restitution payment represented “a fraction of what you stole.”

“… you paid off all your own debts and left the people who were owed the money the most high and dry,” the judge told Harvey. “You understand how that just doesn’t square with me?”

Harvey said she understood, but explained she was trying to make sure she didn’t have any outstanding bills, “so that I would have money.”

She indicated she had about $5,000 of the retirement money remaining.

Making restitution

Going forward, Harvey said she might be able to pay as much as $100 a month toward her $200 worth of court costs and the restitution. Simpson set the rate at $75 a month while encouraging her to pay more when possible. A failure to make those payments could theoretically result in her probation being revoked and a one- to three-year prison sentence being imposed, the judge noted.

Harvey’s total restitution bill came to $203,267 — covering not only the stolen cash but the $10,000 that the store’s parent company, Steck’s Inc., spent on an audit. McArtor said the company did receive $50,000 from its insurance polices, but even when combined with Monday’s $26,500 payment, the liquor store is still out more than $126,700.

In the likely event that Harvey still owes money at the end of her probationary period, White said the McArtors could get a judgment against Harvey and put a lien on her Cody home.

At one point, Simpson told Harvey she was lucky she wasn’t going to prison.

“I hope you understand that, because this process means nothing if you walk out of here today and say, ‘Wow, we really pulled a fast one there … give me a high five,’” Simpson said. “If that happens, then we’ve all failed you.”

“That’s not going to happen, sir,” Harvey responded, saying she understood.

The judge indicated it wouldn’t do any good to put Harvey in prison, because the McArtors wouldn’t get paid. But, he added, “they’re not getting any money now.”

“I’m going to do my best, sir,” Harvey responded.

Simpson said he wanted her to do more than her best — suggesting she consider taking out another mortgage or tapping her lines of credit to make restitution.

“I want you to do everything possible to get as much money to them [the McArtors] as possible,” the judge said. He required Harvey to file updates about her financial situation and restitution efforts every 45 days.