A freshman pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing her friend's Capital One Visa credit card to purchase merchandise at the downtown fashion boutique Bella.
Krysten Victoria Gibbs '07 of New Jersey admitted guilt to one count of fraudulent use of a credit card to buy $111 worth of clothing at Bella on Jan. 4.
The Class A misdemeanor carried with it a $700 fine, $400 of which is suspended unless Gibbs commits another crime within 12 months. A receipt in her file on record at the Lebanon District Court showed that she paid the $300 penalty. Justice Albert Cirone Jr. presided over Gibbs' arraignment.
The 19-year-old Gibbs waived her right to an attorney, arriving at the courthouse yesterday morning in Lebanon for her 8:15 a.m. arraignment hearing with her father.
Though Gibbs was only charged with one count, she actually bought much more than the $111 listed on the complaint. The credit card statement of Christina Macaraeg '07 showed that Gibbs fraudulently purchased $559 in merchandise from Bella and food deliveries from Everything But Anchovies using Macaraeg's Visa card.
Hanover Police Captain Frank Moran, who filed the affidavit requesting Gibbs' arrest warrant, said that Hanover Police uses discretion in deciding how many charges to file. In this case, because Gibbs paid full restitution, confessed to the crime and had no previous criminal history, she was charged with only one count of fraud, according to Moran.
"I didn't see any point in compounding the charges," Moran said. "I thought that one count was sufficient for justice purposes."
According to Gibbs' court records, the police began to investigate on March 11 when they were notified of a series of fraudulent charges on Macaraeg's credit card account, although the card itself was not reported stolen. Hanover Police officers then compiled a list of the fraudulently purchased items from Bella, including a Juicy Couture pink skirt, a Juicy pink sweatshirt, a Juno blue/white halter top, a pair of Paper and Denim jeans and an Ocean Drive "Championship Players" spandex T-shirt.
Police first interviewed Macaraeg's roommates, who were cleared of wrongdoing but directed police to another woman on the hall in Mid-Fayerweather dormitory. This woman told the police that Gibbs had some of the clothing that they were looking for, because Gibbs had told her she owned a Juno blue and white blouse from Bella.
With this information, the police interviewed Gibbs, who said she was aware of Macaraeg's fraudulently purchased items from Bella and EBAs. Even though the police knew which items were bought, they told Gibbs they didn't, and asked if she owned any clothing from Bella. While Gibbs was producing three items from the store, Moran noticed the Juicy skirt hanging in the closet, which Gibbs declined to declare to the police.
Moran then explained to Gibbs that the police had reason to believe that she knew more about the incident, and advised her to tell the truth. She then teared up and said she had a "compulsion problem," but refused to elaborate. After confessing to using Macaraeg's card three times and replacing it, she produced seven fraudulently-purchased items.
The College is required by federal law to keep students' records confidential, and therefore could not comment on specific disciplinary cases. Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Director Marcia Kelly said, however, in the event that a student had fraudulently used a credit card, the student would be most likely be disciplined, depending on the dollar value of the purchases and payment of restitution. The type of discipline handed out would not be determined formulaically, but rather would take into account the individual case, according to Kelly.
Gibbs, however, is not listed in the Dartmouth Name Directory this spring, nor does she have an active BlitzMail account. When students are suspended from the College, their BlitzMail accounts are deactivated.
Both Gibbs and Macaraeg declined to comment on the incident.
