Women hold signs in plea bargain

BEDFORD, Pa., Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Two Pennsylvania women held signs at the roadside branding themselves as thieves as part of a plea bargain for taking gift cards from a young girl.

Tina Griekspoor, 35, and her mother Evelyn Border, 56, both of Bedford, held signs Tuesday on the corner of Penn and Juliana streets in Bedford reading, "I stole from a 9-year-old on her birthday," the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Wednesday.

The women agreed to the humiliation-based punishment suggested by Bedford County Assistant District Attorney Travis Livengood as part of their plea bargain for theft of mislaid property. Livengood said he is recommending probation in the place of jail time as part of the agreement.

The women were accused of taking two gift cards they said they discovered at Wal-Mart. The owner, a girl celebrating her 9th birthday, told investigators she set the cards on a shelf while speaking to a Wal-Mart employee.

"There's three goals to this: punishment, rehabilitation and deterring of future crimes," Livengood said. "If there's one person out there who is thinking of stealing today, they're going to think twice."