TWIN FALLS -- A former assistant manager at a Twin Falls Walmart has been sentenced to six months in jail and five years of probation after stealing $109,000 from the store safe and fleeing to Florida.
Patrick Dee Howard took the money on Dec. 11 and traveled to Salt Lake City then flew to Orlando, Fla., with the money in a checked suitcase.
Attorney Anthony Valdez says Howard was off his regular regimen of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication and contacted Walmart officials when he got to Florida.
Howard pleaded guilty to grand theft in May and has repaid the $2,400 he spent.
Fifth District Judge Eric Wildman also ordered Howard to pay $5,500 in restitution to the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office for the cost of returning him to Idaho.
