Slots Gambling Thief Likely To Die In Jail

A 62 year-old Texas gambler who stole $1.7 million from her employer in order to fund her addiction to slot machines, will likely die in jail after receiving a 25 year sentence by a District Court judge.
Patricia Mancuso Janowski, 62, worked as a bookkeeper at Cape Software Inc for eight years starting late 2001. However, in addition to being payed $3,800 a month for her work, she would also help herself to an extra $14,000 a month, disguised as ‘payments to vendors,’ which she would then spend playing the slots.
Apparently, Janowski spent most of the money at Klein Food Mart in Spring, Texas, where she would stop on her way back from work and stayed until the store closed.
During her trial, Janowski admitted to gambling away the stolen money but her mitigating circumstances, as attorney Mark Morasch pointed out, was that she had cancer and was suffering from a major depression.
Nonetheless, 9th state District Court Judge Fred Edwards handed Janowski the maximum 25-year sentence allowed under an agreement, with Cape Software attorney Brad Beers later commenting:
“We were lucky to be in court with Judge Edwards. He’s someone with enough experience to know when compassion is appropriate, and when a stiff sentence is appropriate.”
On the other side, Patricia Janowski’s attorney Mark Morasch was taken aback, saying that his client had wanted to plead guilty from the very start. He said he expected a sentence of eight years in prison at most, after she pleaded guilty to first-degree felony aggregate theft. However, the judge’s decision was effectively a death, explained Morasch, before stating
“Gambling was the only thing that made her feel good and she couldn’t stop. Addictions are a powerful enemy. That’s no excuse. It’s going to cost the state far more to house an elderly prisoner with a history of cancer. I don’t see her leaving prison alive.”