Forshee pleads to reduced Giveaway charge

A local woman has changed her plea to a reduced charge accusing her of taking merchandise from a local charity and was sentenced to probation.

Sheila Forshee, initially charged with felony counts of deceptive practices and theft by a common scheme, pleaded no contest Monday in state District Court to a reduced misdemeanor charge of deceptive practices in the Giveaway House.

Pleading no contest means the accused does

not admit guilt but admits that the prosecution would likely convict them if the case went to trial. The criminal justice system proceeds in the same manner as if the defendant pleaded guilty.

Forshee was accused of taking donated merchandise from Walmart and saying the items were going to the Community Giveaway House, when instead she sold them at Ruth Ann's, a thrift store Forshee operates.

District Judge Daniel Boucher, in accordance with a plea deal, imposed a six-month deferred sentence Monday.

If Forshee abides by the conditions of release, she may petition to have the charge struck from her record.

Forshee had been in conflict with other people involved in the  local charity since 2012 .

Her grandmother Ruth Nystrom and a friend of Nystrom's, Ann Friesen, formed the Giveaway House the early 1970s.

The organization took items ranging from clothes and food to books and furniture and distributed them to anyone wanting them who came into the North Havre residence where Giveaway House was set up.