Wife Of Wealthy Dentist Jailed, Fined For Having A `Personal Shoplifter'

ST. PAUL - The wife of a wealthy dentist must serve 15 days in jail and pay a $5,000 fine for hiring a shoplifter to steal luxury items for her, a judge ruled yesterday.

Judy Dick, the only member of her family convicted in the so-called "personal shoplifter" case, also was put on probation for five years and ordered to perform 120 hours of community service.

Judy Dick, her husband, Gerald Dick, and their two adult children were accused last year of making up a shopping list and then having someone steal the items they wanted - Baccarat crystal, Armani suits, Polo sportswear - from a Dayton's store. Police seized $40,000 in suspected stolen merchandise from their home.

In sentencing Judy Dick, Ramsey County District Judge Salvador Rosas said he wanted her to learn a lesson in humility.

"For you and your son to give the impression that you've been the victims of the press, the victims of police, seems to me a little bit outrageous," Rosas said.

Rosas acknowledged that police made mistakes in the case and said the mistakes led to the acquittal of her husband and daughter. Some of the most important evidence in the case was thrown out because investigators didn't obtain a search warrant before they took the luxury items from the Dicks' home last November.

The family was arrested after a police sting, in which an admitted shoplifter and an undercover Dayton's security agent went to the Dicks' home with stolen goods.

The trial in July resulted in conviction on only a single count against Judy Dick - attempting to receive stolen goods. The jury acquitted Gerald Dick and daughter Stacy Zehren, and Rosas dismissed charges against the son, James Dick, after ruling that late disclosures of evidence by police prejudiced his defense.

Judy Dick's attorney, Paul Applebaum, said the Dicks already have been punished. He said Gerald Dick has lost his business, and the family plans to move out of their Roseville home because of media attention.

"It certainly is going to scar them for the rest of their lives," Applebaum said.