A woman arrested for stealing wallets and purses from classrooms at La Jolla and Kate Sessions elementary schools has been sentenced to four years and eight months in state prison.
Because Jessica Lee Wagner, 31, of Clairemont, was on probation for similar offenses that were committed in 2006, probation was denied. San Diego Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sontag ordered Wagner to pay $717 to three teachers, according to court records.
Wagner pleaded guilty to three felony burglary charges in which she admitted to going into public buildings with the intent to steal. A security camera took pictures of her at Kate Sessions Elementary School and going into an unlocked classroom, where a wallet was later reported stolen on Jan. 24.
The theft from the La Jolla school occurred on Jan. 31, and Wagner also pleaded guilty to stealing at a Vons store later that day. Victims reported some of their missing credit cards were used. Sontag fined Wagner $260 and gave her credit for the time she spent in jail after she was arrested on Feb. 16 for shoplifting at a J.C. Penney store in Mission Valley.
Sontag gave her two years for the recent thefts and two years and eight months consecutively for the 2006 case. Wagner had received a stayed prison term in January 2006, which Sontag imposed after she was found in violation of her probation because of failure to remain law-abiding, according to court records.
Wagner did serve a year in jail in the 2006 case, and was given a credit of 381 days against the total term. The judge also ordered her to pay $1,026.69 in restitution to the businesses that suffered losses, including a beauty shop, a Target store, a spa and Paradise Resort.
The motivation for the thefts apparently involved methamphetamine use. Wagner pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine, two burglary charges and petty theft with a prior that involved unlawful use of someone’s credit card, in 2006. She has already left a local jail and is now at a women’s prison with the state Department of Corrections.