Woman Convicted of Misdemeanor Embezzlement After Pleading Guilty to Felony, Complying With Law, and Paying Restitution to Dollar General

NORFOLK, Va. — Nicole Lorraine Dunston, 40, was convicted on Friday, March 21, of misdemeanor embezzlement and sentenced to suspended jail time after she repaid more than $3,000 she had embezzled from her employer, Dollar General, in 2023. Ms. Dunston had faced a felony conviction but, by complying with an agreement with the Commonwealth and Court, was able to earn a misdemeanor sentence.

In 2022, Ms. Dunston was accused of and charged with embezzling more than $3,000 from her employer, a Dollar General store in Norfolk, after her managers discovered that she had been using store funds to activate debit cards and then using the cards for unauthorized expenses. Ms. Dunston admitted to her crime and, after police arrested her and informed her of her Miranda rights, she told investigators that she did so in order to afford her late rent payments and not be evicted from her residence.

Under Virginia law, any theft or embezzlement of $1,000 or more can be charged as a felony, and Ms. Dunston’s employer pursued a felony embezzlement charge. Ms. Dunston’s employers expressed to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office that their main priority was to have Ms. Dunston repay them their money.

In June 2023, Ms. Dunston agreed to plead guilty to felony embezzlement as charged but to have the judge not find her guilty for 18 months while she remained of good behavior and paid $3,170 back to her former employer in restitution installments. Under the plea agreement, if Ms. Dunston complied with those terms, she would be found guilty instead of misdemeanor embezzlement and be sentenced to twelve months in jail, all suspended. If she did not, she would be convicted of a felony for the first time. Judge Tasha D. Scott accepted Ms. Dunston’s plea agreement and deferred a finding of guilt.

On Friday, March 21, Judge Scott found Ms. Dunston had paid her restitution and honored the terms of her agreement. Therefore, Ms. Dunston was found guilty of misdemeanor embezzlement and sentenced according to her plea agreement.

“While some people commit crimes out of malice, many people, including Ms. Dunston, commit them out of desperation. Ms. Dunston, facing the possibility of eviction and homelessness, stole from her boss, and that is absolutely a crime,” said Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “In the outdated world of ‘law and order’ prosecutors, prosecutors would demand a felony conviction for Ms. Dunston, which would make it far harder for her to do the honest work she needs to do to live and would only increase the likelihood of her stealing again. With the agreement of the court, in this case we found a better way: Hold Ms. Dunston accountable through a conviction, give her an opportunity to obey the law and repay her employer, and not mark Ms. Dunston as a felon for no good reason. In Norfolk, we will continue to focus our energies on prosecuting the people who commit violence, and we will continue to offer a more just path to those who, like Ms. Dunston, make amends and work to do better.”

Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney William S. Maydosz prosecuted Ms. Dunston’s case.

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