< Previous page

He would buy an item, take it to his car, then return to the store right away with his receipt and empty bag or cart. He would then get the same kinds of items off the shelf and ask the store for a refund.

The goods Allen stole ranged from a $525 Bose theater system to trinkets worth $2.50.

'Not the man I married'

On Friday, Allen's wife, Jannese, told the court that that kind of criminal behavior was the opposite of the upright moral conviction he had demonstrated during their 19 years of marriage.

"When Claude was arrested," she told the judge, "I mourned for I knew this was not the man I married."

She, too, cited the stresses on him -- "the 14-hour workdays, less than two hours [of sleep] every night for about three months," and the family's four moves in three months.

"These elements, when added together, took their toll on my husband," she said.

Allen was also accompanied by members of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Md.. His family's last move -- into a $958,300 home in suburban Maryland -- was made to be near the 3,000-member nondenominational church.

'Shame is not dead'

Gansler, who oversaw the prosecution, said Allen's sentence was "fair and reasonable." But he said his office opposed the defense attorneys' plea for a deal that could eventually keep Allen's record clean because the thefts were not an isolated incident, but "a long-term shoplifting scheme."

But Johnson said he was convinced that Allen was "legitimately remorseful" and won't likely be charged with any other crimes.

Then, noting Allen's emotional remarks about the pain he'd caused himself and his family, the judge said, "You are a classic example, a fresh and enlightening example, that shame is not dead."

< Previous page