South Dakota woman sentenced for stealing from funeral fund

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A South Dakota woman has been sentenced to about three months in jail for stealing money raised to pay funeral expenses for a friend’s daughter.

Authorities say 33-year-old Stephanie Blaine of Sioux Falls kept the $3,600 from a GoFundMe account she set up after a September 2016 vehicle crash that killed her friend’s daughter.

Her attorney says Blaine decided the grieving mother didn’t deserve the money after the mother had made what Blaine considered questionable spending decisions.

The Argus Leader reports that Blaine pleaded guilty to grand theft in a deal under which prosecutors dropped a habitual criminal charge. She had previously been convicted of embezzlement, forgery and burglary.

She was sentenced Wednesday to 100 days in jail.

The GoFundMe website eventually reimbursed the grieving mother.

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Information from: Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com