Woman Facing Federal Charges For Stealing Bag of Frozen Meatballs

We swear this story isn't from The Onion. It's real life and it's nutty. Estelle Casimir, 56, of Newburgh, NY, and works as a custodian at United States Military Academy at West Point has charged been in Federal court with stealing a bag of frozen meatballs.

Casimir has been suspended from her job at Newburgh-based Watson Services, the company that provides food services at the mess hall, where she has worked for 28 years. Authorities say supervisors confronted Casimir about 1 p.m. Jan. 30 because she apparently abandoned her post and was found in an area where she had “no responsibility or assignment of duties,” according to court papers. An affidavit signed by Joshua Weaver, a court liaison to the Provost Marshal Office at West Point says that when Casimir was asked what was in the grocery bag she was carrying, she replied, “Nothing. It’s garbage.” Asked why she didn’t throw it in a garbage area near the pantry, Casimir said she was taking it to a bin downstairs instead. “After some reluctance, the defendant revealed a bag of ‘completely frozen’ meatballs in the defendant’s possession; which coincidentally were on the menu for that evening’s dinner,” the affidavit says. Casimir said she “found the bag in a trash container and was on her way to dispose of them in another trash container.” She was subsequently arrested by Military Police. Investigators say that Casimir is responsible for cleaning latrines in the mess hall, and that her job does not include handling or disposing food. Court papers do not specify the number of meatballs involved. A company official who declined to give his name said Casimir is suspended, pending the outcome of the case. Casimir said she’s been looking for house cleaning work. “I just sit in the house,” she said. “I don’t have anything to do.” 

source: Journal News

How much money is the government wasting to prosecute this case? Estelle denies the charges and at a hearing last Friday, she pleaded not guilty. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and one year in military prison on each count.