Judge sends Grafton grocery store embezzler to prison

A prosecutor’s recommendation would have kept her out of prison, but that is exactly where a 51-year-old woman who embezzled thousands of dollars from a Grafton grocery store while working there as a customer service manager was sent last week.

West Bend resident Shelley J. De Lisle, who pleaded guilty to felony theft in a business setting in September, was sentenced on Nov. 11 by Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Steve Cain to two years in prison followed by two years of extended supervision for stealing from Sendik’s Food Market.

Assistant District Attorney Antonella Aleman-Zientek had recommended that Cain withhold a prison sentence, place De Lisle on probation for four years and order her to serve a year in the county jail as a condition of probation.

Authorities say De Lisle stole at least $17,857 from the grocery store last year, but De Lisle told investigators she took about $65,000 from the store over the course of years, according to a criminal complaint.

The store reported the theft on Friday, May 24, and a front-end manager told a police officer that as she was reviewing refund reports she noticed that on May 23 three large refunds were made for “home items.”

The manager then reviewed store surveillance video and saw De Lisle conducting the transactions but with no customers present, which she called “ghost refunds,” the complaint states.

The manager said she also reviewed additional video and saw De Lisle taking something out of her back pocket and scanning it and, without any merchandise visible, conducting refunds.

The manager told authorities that she arranged an interview with De Lisle and when she asked De Lisle if she knew why the meeting had been scheduled, De Lisle said she knew it was because she had been stealing money from the store, according to the complaint.   

Authorities noted in the complaint that while they confirmed De Lisle made dozens of fraudulent refunds, pocketing cash or crediting her debit card for a total of $17,857, the investigation into how much money was stolen is ongoing.

After being arrested, De Lisle told authorities that she would take price tags off merchandise, usually from the home goods department, then use them to make fake refunds and either take cash or credit her debit card, the complaint states.

She said she stole between $200 and $400 three to four times a week and estimated that she had taken about $65,000 during the six years she worked as a customer service manager, according to the complaint.

De Lisle said she started working at Sendik’s after her job as a medical transcriptionist “went away,” but she earned less at the grocery store. At the same time, she had medical bills to pay and she began stealing, the complaint states.

She said that stealing became “almost automatic” for her and she felt like she couldn’t stop. She told authorities, “I know I did it and I have to face the consequences,” according to the complaint.

During last week’s hearing, Cain ordered De Lisle to pay restitution to the store.